Bermudian Lives The American Dream

In the 1995 romantic comedy “The American President”, the title character played by former superstar resident Michael Douglas jokes that the United States isn’t really “the great society” — his money is on the sub-tropical paradise Bermuda.

Odds are many Americans would agree with the witticism.

But a newly-minted American citizen who originally hails from Bermuda would likely urge the US to take a more positive view of itself.

Garrick Richardson, 67, “studied diligently for the right to stand under slate-gray skies and in foot-soaking slush this winter and say, with you and me: this land is my land”, a Massachusetts newspaper reported this week.

In a September 14 ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, Mr. Richardson and nearly 200 other immigrants took an oath and became a citizen of the United States.

“I was very excited about it,” he told “The Foxboro Reporter”. “I came to realise from my training for this citizenship that the average American doesn’t know about the history of America.”

Mr. Richardson said he is looking forward to voting for the first time next year along with twin daughters Rebecca and Olivia Richardson, who graduated from the local high school in June and, now 18, are old enough to vote.

Donna (Elder) Richardson, 56, his wife of 21 years who grew up in Foxboro, felt that for practical reasons he should become a US citizen.

“Being that I got my girls, my wife — they convinced me that I should get it,” he said.

Though like-minded about the advantages of US citizenship, Garrick and Donna — because of their different backgrounds — see Bermuda through vastly different lenses.

“Bermuda is Donna’s ideal place in the sun. As a travel agent, she was able to vacation there about 30 times, escaping from New England’s cold and gritty winters,” reported the newspaper. ‘It was beautiful and exciting’, she said. ‘It’s my favorite place in the world to go’.

“To Garrick, the approximately 20-mile long, fishhook-shaped island — actually, a string of islands — was narrow and confining. Everyone seemed to know everyone, and making a living was no balmy breeze.

“With finance and tourism its main industries, Bermuda is a generally affluent territory, but the cost of living is high, and many residents work multiple jobs to patch together a livelihood.

“As the third youngest of 17 children in one family, Garrick worked, from age ten, as a mason, fisherman, police constable and sea-rescue swimmer. He still carries his Bermuda police identification card, showing his photo from younger years, when he studied martial arts.

The couple first met when Mr. Richardson worked as a bouncer at a Bermuda hotel nightclub, where he subdued a violent customer but ended up with an hand injury which gave him unexpected time off. Time he used, in May, 1989, to visit Donna for the first time.

They became engaged five months later, and married in 1990.

Their daughters are both nursing majors at Rhode Island College, and he also has a son and daughter from a previous marriage.

Rebecca said her mom lovingly “calls him her souvenir from Bermuda.”

Wearing a smile, Mr. Richardson got the last laugh, telling the newspaper: “One of these days I’ll be President.”

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