[ ]
How an island girl bought back her family ' s old house and turned it into a Bed & Breakfast
by Riselle Celestina
Natasha Richardson was born and raised on Dutch side St . Maarten . Her early childhood years were spent at the " old house " as her family used to call it . She and her brother would be dropped off here after school . The old house belonged to her grandparents , Mr . Marius Richardson and Mrs . Beryl Richardson-Labega .
She and her brother , together with their cousins living nearby , would all play in the big open space surrounding the old house . They played tag and used the remnants of an old stone oven as their self declared " safe spot ". They played pretend under the almond tree on the outskirts of the big yard or picked pomserrat off the trees in the yard and savored that sour fruit all day if they could , or until their grandmother , already in her eighties at that time , would tell them to stop .
Natasha remembers how her grandfather , with whom she had little interaction , would wait on the porch for his long time friend Mr Rogers , who would visit almost daily for a game of dominoes and a drink or two .
She and her grandmother , however , were close . They shared a special bond , so special in fact that when she started getting frailer and had to be moved to a home , Natasha would visit her every afternoon after school and would always bring her her favorite sweets as a treat , until she passed away in 1992 .
Fast forward to 2005 . Natasha , now all grown up and a social worker at that , bought the old house after an incident at work made her realize she needed something different in her life other than just her job . She needed a hobby .
To Table of Contents