In 2018, six weeks after my father died, John invited a group of my friends, including some he had met during the short time we had been together, for a week-long birthday celebration. It was his way of bringing me joy at a time of great sadness in my life. Most of the people that joined us were my friends from Venezuela, who have been an important part of my life for 3 decades and who have always been there for me during the toughest of times, including my brother’s death in 1988 and the closure of my first business, Cabus, in Caracas in 2002. They brought me great comfort and happiness (and dancing!) whilst I was grieving the loss of my father and my mother‘s struggle with Alzheimer’s and I will be always grateful for this kindness. This year I told John that I wanted a reprise, after 4 years of us being together and after the pandemic, and, this time, I wanted us to spend part of the holidays with his family, especially as John’s mum died last year. I also wanted to thank all of my amazing friends and the ones who have supported me on that sad birthday in St Barts in 2018. Even though we had fun, inside I was crying every night, but I managed to make it through thanks to John and their love. This time round I wanted to thank them for the gift of joy they gave me in 2018 ❤️ Some couldn’t come to St Barts so I arranged to see them in Spain and I will see others in the future. However, amongst the friends who made it to St Barts there were some of the Venezuelan friends that were with us in 2018 and I was so happy to be able to celebrate with them for an entire week, thanking them for their lifelong support. The celebrations were made all the more special thanks to two great chefs, Stephanie Bonnin @latropikitchen and @lamaria.barriga plus a great team that we assembled in St Barts which includes people I now consider to be friends, given I’ve been coming to the island for 3 decades. We had the best of times and danced every single night. As the saying goes, “No matter where they are, 2 Latins make conversation and 3 make a Rumba”... Can you imagine what happens when you put this many Latinas in one place?