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left Italy. We then drove to Tully and Barbara's home in Brookhaven, had a ''Bed and breakfast", a service which many homes in Ireland advertise, then drove to Long Beach. When we said goodbye to the Brady's, I remarked that if four persons could travel together for more than a month and still be friends, ours would be a lasting friendship!
I suppose the best thing about making a trip is that it makes one appreciate ones home. Fran and I were no exceptions. Besides, the speckled trout were plentiful and I could hardly wait to wet a line and fill our deep freeze again with them. As usual Tully found time to join me for another trip to Free Mason Island where the trout are large and plentiful, and where Eustis and Marge Veasey are good hosts if Eustis is sober.
Just four months after Mama's demise my brother Cedric (Jack) passed away. I was thankful that our Mother was spared the heartbreak of losing him. I did everything possible to make his last days a bit easier.
Fran and I flew to Boston for Christmas of 1972, to spend five days with Shirley, Bob, and five of our eleven grandchildren -Robin, Ann, Trudy, Patrick, and Melissa. It was one of those wonderful visits; when the day of departure arrives everyone realizes that each loves the other more than the day the visit began.
Tully drove down in May of 1973, and Hobart Shaw invited us to go to Free Mason on his cruiser, the MIRAMAR. It was one of those trips one dreams about - speckled trout were everywhere, and long before dark we had all we wanted. That evening we had broiled trout a la Marge Veasey, a gourmet's dish to say the least! That night before we retired, Tully sold me on a trip to the West Indies, so we agreed that if it was still possible to get a reservation, Fran and I would join Barbara and him on the CANBERRA which sailed from New York. The travel agency called me from Jackson and we settled for the last room with private bath, so on the tenth day of June we boarded the CANBERRA and joined our favorite traveling companions.
That evening we sailed for Grenada, a beautiful island in the Caribbean. The CANBERRA, an English ship operated by the Cunnard Line, was probably the largest vessel any one of us had
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ever sailed on. She was 1200 feet long, 150 feet from the water line to the top deck and she drew 36 feet. And because of this draft it was necessary to anchor out from the islands and be taken ashore in launches. Sailing an average of 25 knots, it took us four days to reach Grenada. Our stay was limited to one day on each island and each island proved more beautiful than the one before. Our next stop was Barbados. It was here that Tully found one of his, fellow ham operators, Claude Stewart. They lunched together and that evening Tully was our host at the Hilton, where we all enjoyed a delicious native meal with fried flying fish as an appetizer. We sailed from British Barbados at eleven that night and arrived at Martinique, a French island, about nine next morning. It was quite evident throughout the West Indies that the lack of progress was due to the lack of intelligence among the natives. Perhaps it was a lesson to the Negro tourists on the CANBERRA to witness the dire poverty among their brothers living only a few miles from the "Promised land." Black tourists were ostracized aboard the CANBERRA, even the crew disliked them and were well aware of their ability to hide their ignorance with their arrogance!
Our last port in the West Indies was St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, perhaps the most beautiful island on our cruise. Most purchases by tourists are made here because all sales are duty free. We were back in New York City early, June 20, and slept in our own home that same night, thanks to air travel.
I	would like to say a word about a great patriot, State Supreme Court Justice Tom Brady, a man I was proud to call my friend. The author of BLACK MONDAY, a book that will live in the heart of every true southerner. Tom passed away late in 1972. The leadership he provided in our fight to save our once-great nation is greatly missed. I am thankful that he never knew that our Senators, Stennis and Eastland voted to confirm the appointment of Henry Kissinger as Secretary of State, September 23, 1973, Tom was my dear friend Tully's brother.
On Tuesday morning December 18, 1973, about 11:45 a.m. Philip Shaw and I arrived at Free Mason to fish when we learned that Hobart, Phillip's brother, had drowned and the body had been recovered that very morning near his cruiser which was moored in the Gulfport Small Craft Harbor. We left immediately
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