- Mrs. Karen Bodden
Theseare the words, the sentiments, of Mrs. Karen Bodden, reflectingupon the 12th Anniversary on Sunday, May 7th, 2000, of the passingof her husband, the unique, the controversial, the consummatepolitician, and some consider a true Caymanian hero, Mr. Jim Bodden,"Mr. Jim" - considered by many to be the only politicalleader the Cayman Islands has had.In modern day Cayman, he and his 'Unity Team' swept the pollsin 1976 - winning 11 out of 12 seats. The only opposition seatwas held by the late Miss Annie Huldah Bodden.
Miss Karen has chosen to share some of the wealth of her preciousmemories of the Honourable Mr. James. M. Bodden, former Ministerof Tourism, Aviation and Labour and lead member of the ExecutiveCouncil - through two Government Administrations with Cayman NetNews on this anniversary of his passing.
Miss Karen came to the Cayman Islands in 1980 searchingfor the "simple life". Ironically in one of their lasttrips in the United States, a road trip from the West Coast tothe East Coast, in a "hippie van". This is the exactphrase that Mr. Jim used in describing how life should be, whatCaymanians, what all people should truly strive for, the "simplelife ... the simple things."
When Miss Karen arrived on Grand Cayman she found work at herprofession, accounting, in Mr. Jim's real estate company. Initiallyshe was terrified of this powerful, strong, and she thought, overbearingemployer who towered over her, he, six feet tall, she, a petitewoman, with shimmering blonde locks and blazing green eyes.
It was through conversation that Mr. Jim was finally able to dissipateMiss Karen's fear of him and subsequently they became friends."At first he would just ask me my opinion on this or that,on a lot of subjects, sometimes we would talk about his plansfor Cayman or his problems, and we would end up talking for hoursand hours. We saw the sunrise so often and realised we had talked,yet again, through the night."
Their courtship lasted for seven years. In August of 1987, theywere married in a small town in Washington State with only about40 people in attendance. Upon their return to the Islands theywere given a reception. "Our reception was in Bodden Townand it was so beautiful what his supporters, and our friends didthat day, I don't know how many hundreds came. He was so happy."
In their time together the adventures they were able to share"are far too numerous to count" she says. "I wasexposed to so many brilliant people through Jim. We had dinnerwith Vice President and Mrs. Bush, lunch with Henry Kissinger,a cocktail reception with President Reagan, met with Jessie Jacksonand President Lyndon Johnson. In Cayman, he escorted Queen Elizabethand we met her and her guests at the Grand Pavilion. A good friendof his was the then Prime Minister of Bermuda. We visited himin Bermuda and Jim got some really good ideas from him."
Mr. Jim hoped to institute some of these ideas in Cayman, including,only one car per household, as in Bermuda. He also wanted to duplicateBermuda's commitment to education. Miss Karen relates: "Wefound they put everything into education. All the teachers inBermuda were from there and could therefore relate better, teachbetter. Their educational system is so superior. They put everythinginto education."
When asked to describe her late husband she says, "His greatestgift was his personality. The word is "Charisma." Hewas very brilliant, and a commanding speaker, an excellent listener.He always supported his people. He let people line up at his office,it was the same at our house, and he loved to listen to all ofthem. He didn't agree with everyone, but he always listened."
He was also a very strong spiritual man, a religious man. He careddeeply about his fellow countrymen. "He would always helpthose who needed it, even when he had nothing left for himself.He believed that God takes care of those who take care of others.He never ended a speech or even a phone call without saying, 'ifGod is willing.' That is how he lived his life."
Miss Karen remembers many accomplishments of Mr. Jim. The onehe thought most significant was the stability and growth for theCayman Islands. She recalls an article from 1980, in the Reader'sDigest, that referred to Cayman as 'the Island that time forgot'."He changed all that with much struggle. He saw so many promisingyoung Caymanians leaving for jobs elsewhere, he wanted more opportunityfor those kids here."
Another of Mr. Jims many accomplishments was starting the InternationalCollege of the Cayman Islands." His commitment to educationwas immense. Miss Karen believes that even now, in the midst ofthe struggles of present day Cayman, he would go back to the children.He would say, "We have to go back to the children immediately."and say, "Let's straighten them out."
Another successful undertaking was the acquisition of two 727aircraft for Cayman Airways. It was amazingly difficult and a'Mr. Jim' success. He and the staff of CAL spent months to findthe best deal on the 727's. He arranged to sell the 'tax credits'to a major US company, which would reduce the purchase price forCayman. "We flew to Miami with Truman (Mr. Bodden) and spentmore than twenty hours on phone calls to the Foreign and CommonwealthOffice and accountants in New York, trying to structure, it (thedeal) correctly."
His relationship with fellow ExCo Member of Legislative Assembly,Truman Bodden may be described in Jim's words as "the bestof friends." They bounced and balanced everything off ofeach other. Jim had some great ideas that never would have flown,but Truman rationalised it. He stabilised Jim a lot. One of theirmutual passions was Cayman Airways and ensuring that it succeeded.
According to Miss Karen, Mr. Jim had good relationships with quitea few of the politicians, in particular Truman, (the late) anotherfellow ExCo Members - the other half of the 'Bodden Town Twins'- and, present sitting Member of ExCo, Mr. John McLean. They spenthours and hours and hours at a table setting. I don't think theydo that now.
Mr. Jim had a somewhat tumultuous relationship with the variousGovernors he worked with, she admits: "He loved GovernorRussell, he was at our home quite a lot and they worked togetherfor the betterment of Cayman. He could not relate at all to GovernorPeter Lloyd, and I believe it was because Mr. Lloyd used the term,'small colony' too many times to Jim." Miss Karen says: "Iwas told that she would like the current Governor", (Mr.Peter Smith.
Miss Karen does not agree with those who remember her husbandas being obsessed with his 'political enemies'. "He wasn'tlike that but he hated the politicians who took advantage of theirposition or the ones who would talk just to hear themselves."
Commenting on the politics of this election year, Miss Karen,who acquired Caymanian Status says, "It's vicious. Thereis no leader. There are some excellent people in Government, butwe can't run Government by committee. We need somebody with ideasand someone else to balance it." As for the constituentsof Cayman, she quotes her husband, "They (the constituents)should be doing something about it ... and make changes in thegovernment. At no time, ever, should somebody hold somebody elseresponsible for their future."
She hopes that Caymanians will make their voices heard. "Caymanis in a very vital position. It is very valuable to the UnitedStates in that you have Cuba, which is Communistic, 90 miles tothe North, and Jamaica, which is Socialistic, 90 miles to theSouth. In the Gulf of Mexico, those shipping lanes between theIslands have to maintain stability in Cayman. The Government shoulduse their power a little bit more. They should make other governmentsaware that the laws of Cayman are so superior to others."
Mr. Jim did have certain fears. "There were two, to be specific.It may not be widely known that one of those fears was flying.It seems ironic that the Minister of Government responsible forAviation, who was able to undertake short flights, including theConcorde from Grand Cayman to Miami, was unable to take the Concordeto London because of his sometimes-crippling fear." she says.
The other fear was snakes. Miss Karen recounts a particular incident,"CNN (Cable News Network) was interviewing him at his officeand for one hour his secretary and I tried to keep him from seeinga 4 foot garden snake that had gotten into his office. The interviewwent well and when it was over he saw the snake and ran out ofthe building." Miss Karen also shares Mr. Jim's fear of snakes.
Otherwise, Mr. Jim was afraid of nothing. He even worked withthe DEA at one point, completely discounting or ignoring the possibleretribution for such acts.
In describing Mr. Jim at home, Miss Karen remembers laughter:"He was always laughing. Always in a good mood. He was alwaysthinking about his country. He was totally a Man of the Sea. Heswam every morning. We loved to go fishing in the evenings together.He was an avid fisherman."
"He loved Calypso and dancing. I'd catch him all the timepetting his cat, Karma (a combination of Karen Marie) and dancingwith it."
She remembers: "Most importantly, he was also a fine familyman. This may, in part, be due to the fact that he was raisedin a matriarchal society. His mother raised him. His father, likeall the men was a fisherman - off the Island. So there he was,with his mother and his two sisters. Miss Mae (his mother) washis biggest influence. Mr. Jim and Miss Karen dined with his parentsat least once a week.
Miss Karen recalls this Bodden clan as a close-knit family. "Iknow he loved his children and grandchildren deeply."
Mr. Jim's passions still remain clear to Miss Karen, "Hewas so against pollution. He really researched pollution. He didwant to instill shipping out of waste, the wrecked cars and thelike, even if it cost Government, he claimed that should havebeen done."
"He was so proud of Cayman, of the desalination plant andwondered why wasn't it done in California, where they get droughtall the time. He was so proud of this system."
As for today and the Cayman that Mr. Jim does not know, Miss Karenbelieves that,
"Some things would absolutely thrill him. He would be happythat downtown is more centralised than it was. West Bay Beachhe would have hated, losing beaches for the public, for Caymanians.The 'Open Space' idea was his. He also thought more police inthe marine industry were needed, 'We need more fines, more policingof the area,' he used to say.
As Miss Karen recounts the hours leading up to his death, it isclear to see this is a man she loves passionately and still missesdearly. "The night before he died, we had gone home earlyand he played his Harry Belafonte Calypso records and we had PD'sPub deliver a pizza for dinner. We went to bed early.
"That morning, it was a Saturday morning, about 5:30 a.m.and he asked me to get him some aspirin. He was smiling and laughing,I questioned him, I said 'are you alright?' and he laughed. Isaid, 'do you want me to call Dr. Marsh?' and he said, 'yeah,yeah, go ahead and call him ... he is in Jamaica.' So I said,"should I call somebody?" And he says, 'no, let's justsleep for a little bit.' And then he jumps out of bed and says,'No, Ill get the aspirin.' And I said, "No, I'll get it.'And he walked out (to the kitchen) and he just, he collapsed.And he looked at me and said, 'remember all these lovely times.'I ran outside and just screamed and screamed."
Miss Karen recounts how the Royal Palms Hotel had been on fireand that the phones had been down, but she finally got throughto the Police - and they put her on hold. When she finally gotan ambulance it had trouble getting through to them because theroad was closed due to the fire. Miss Karen relates, "Itwas just a disaster.
"Finally, the neighbours and the property manager arrived.They tried mouth to mouth. It was just too late."
Mr. Jim was just 57 years old when he died of a massive heartattack.
Miss Karen was in shock. It didn't help matters that Mr. Jim hadbeen given a clean bill of health in Miami at a recent check up,or that she was unable to proceed with an autopsy because of dissentamongst certain family members.
One of the rumours that surrounded her husband's death was that,'he met with Scotland Yard.' "There was never a problem withJim and Scotland Yard", she said. "Jim did fear foranother family member, but it had nothing to do with himself."
Even in remembering those troubling times, Miss Karen recountsa typical Mr. Jim moment, "Three weeks before he died, wewere at the house (that they were building), walking in the frontyard and he said, "We are going to have one horrible hurricanethis year." I said, "Well, how can you tell?" Hesaid, 'the water is way too low in the South Sound. It just shouldn'tbe this low.' That was five months before (Hurricane) Gilbert."
Miss Karen left the Grand Cayman in 1992. "I still couldn'tget over my love for him and all the memories and I had to geton and support myself." She moved to Maui, Hawaii takingwith her with Mr. Jim's cat, Karma, who was by then a world traveller.
She has come back to Cayman two to three times a year since hisdeath.
Prior to leaving the Island, Miss Karen gave his entire studyof the History of Cayman, with a treasure of historical data anddocuments to the National Museum. "He treasured these itemsand that is where he would have wanted them."
Miss Karen, who was granted Caymanian Status in 1988, says shehas returned home, to Grand Cayman, "for good". Karma,Mr. Jim's Himalayan - cat, Karma is back too. He is now twentyyears old.
As for Miss Karen, she begins her position as accountant witha local Company Management firm in the next few weeks and hasplans to re-marry in the Fall.
Her Fiancé, Steve, is a friend she has known for almostthirty years. He is excited to be able to join Miss Karen in GrandCayman and share in her appreciation of the Cayman Islands.
She says that she wants to thank all those people who have beenso warm and welcomed her back, all the people who supported Jim.
There may also be plans to publish some of Jim's writings. "Hewas such a beautiful writer". It seems fitting to share thatwith his Countrymen.
The one 'Mr. Jim' thought that Miss Karen said that she wouldlike to share with others is: "Never rely on, or blame peoplefor your position. Take responsibility for yourself."