With my new shop ready to go, I hired a vendor and began stocking. Eventually my hard work paid off and I attained the title of Master Tailor. To this day, I don’t think I have words to express the thrill I experienced having met this goal.
I do believe I gave my teacher, Odas Peadin, a hug after he’d uttered these words.
It was a new day. The accomplishment emboldened me. I got a makeover…
and I took Bermuda on a holiday to Lake Retreat.
There I offered him an engraved ring I’d made and asked him to marry me. He reluctantly agreed. He never was a jewelry kinda guy…
I enjoyed that holiday so much that I endeavored to expand my business there as well. I set up a droid to advertise at the shuttle.
Besides fishing supplies, I offered casual clothing for the forgetful vacationer and a full service bridal shop!
Things were looking up…
Back in the day, travel wasn’t something you took lightly. Public transportation was the only option and it wasn’t cheap. You examined your bank account and thought carefully before buying that ticket. The excitement you felt while waiting to board was often in direct proportion to the cost of the ticket and the time spent planning for the trip.
My first trip to Naboo was a big deal. From the moment I stepped foot into the beautiful city of Theed, I was in love. While I loved our hometown of Bestine, it was clear it wouldn’t be the best place to start a clothing business. Bermuda did a bit of research for me and came to the conclusion that Theed would be the best choice.
His involvement in the creation of |Bahama-Wear| didn’t stop there. He purchased the small generic house and found the ideal location just outside the city. He funded the initial furnishings, materials for me to stock my first vendor, paid for my tailor education and expressed complete faith in me. In short, he’s a huge part of how |Bahama-Wear| ever came into being. And I’m forever grateful for that.
|Bahama-Wear| was born. With my shop open for business, I updated my public contact info:
Please visit the |Bahama-Wear| showroom and vendor located just outside Theed at –4323 3419.
(My shop stood there in that same spot on Ahazi from the day I placed it in 2004 till it was packed in the housing pack up event in 2007. I returned shortly thereafter and replaced it in that same location. It will be right there when the lights go out 3 days from now.)
For all the drama I created over his absence, Bermuda was back within a few weeks and things were back to usual. He was back to adventuring and I was still busy about the task of learning everything I could about my chosen fields.
I continued my work toward becoming a master tailor but it was slow going. I made each item carefully by hand. To me, tailoring was an art. It wasn’t about quantity. Even then I knew that I had no interest in mass producing large numbers of standard, black shirts and pants. There was nothing I enjoyed more than to work with a customer one on one, designing each piece specifically for them.
It was around this time that I had an unexpected boost toward completing my medical education. I had made a goal to become a master doctor. Not really so much as a career, more of a hobby. I had no interest in starting my own practice. I just figured it would come in handy when Bermuda returned home from his adventures with various ailments.
Things were slow but steady at the medical center. There were sometimes many doctors looking to practice their skills so I’d have to wait patiently for my rotation. Well, I suppose I didn’t have to. There were always folks hanging around the medical center, willing to self-injure and subject themselves to your treatment…. usually for a price.
I found this practice distasteful and refused to take part in it. If I was going to bother to earn my medical degree, I was going to really earn it - even if it took me much, much longer to do so. I made it my personal policy to only heal ‘real’ wounds. If you self-injured, sorry, you were clearly in need of a mental doctor and I couldn’t help you with that.
One day I was taking a break in the Bestine cantina. Not my favorite place to be, but the day was hot and I needed a glass of tea and a break from the four walls of the medical center. I was surprised to get a tell from a name I did not recognize. He said he had something to give me.
I scanned the cantina but could not see him anywhere. Before I had a chance to respond, he said, “Look in your datapad. I put something there for you.”
What?! How could he access my datapad?!! I opened my datapad fully expecting this prankster’s lie to be exposed and instead found…
a perfectly designed surgical droid?!
To this day I have no idea who this person was or how they knew I needed this droid. And I still can’t figure out how they managed to put it there in my datapad without my knowledge. It will forever remain a mystery.
But despite the lack of information about it’s origins, I wasted no time putting that droid to good use. The droid gave me the ability to practice my medicine on the go - outside the medical center - anywhere.
I set up an emergency room at the starport. There I was able to heal wounds and cure sickness as folks unloaded from the transport. I gained enough experience to reach master doctor within a matter of days.
I’ve always wished I could thank that mysterious stranger for allowing me to fulfill my dream so quickly while maintaining my dignity and ethics.
The best part of visiting Naboo was the chance to see my favorite creature in the whole galaxy. You could find families of the gentle, adorable gnorts grazing just outside Theed. It was one factors that eventually led me to build my shop there sometime later.
Not long after Bermuda left I was invited to join a guild. I’d only chatted with the guild leader for a few minutes so I had very little information to base my decision on.
Up to this point, I’d simply declined any and all guild invites. I didn’t really have desire or need to join one. But with my main hide supplier, pest remover and companion gone, I decided it was a good time for me to step out of my comfort zone.
I joined and he led me to Dantooine where the guild headquarters was to be located. That’s when the first of several alarms went off inside my head. I ignored it.
I understand many folks wouldn’t have blinked an eye at travelling to such a remote location, but this was a real stretch for me. Not only did I avoid space travel whenever possible, but Dantooine was a wild planet, full of creatures a tailor should not have been within a hundred meters of.
Upon arriving at the the space port on Dantooine, the guild leader made a comment about how he loved the beautiful pink flowers that covered the landscape as far as the eye could see. I remember thinking how they constantly reminded me that everything on the planet was out of control - lacking boundaries, domestication and civility.
But I pressed on, determined that I should build a life where I was not dependant on Bermuda and convinced this was the way to go. Upon reaching the village he’d created in the middle of no where, he explained what exactly I’d signed up for. Given that the guild consisted of 3 members including he and I, there was much to be done.
The most obvious task was recruiting more members. Given instructions to go recruit people to a guild I’d just joined was akin to being asked to go build a space ship. I hadn’t the first clue about where to begin and I lacked all the right tools for job. I’m not the type to push my wares, clothing or guilds, on others. Nor am I skilled at starting up random conversations with strangers. But at that point my resolve was still strong so I made the long trek back to civilization to figure it out.
Whenever I need to do some serious thinking, I grab my fishing pole and head for water. That’s exactly what I did. I set up to fish in the river close to the Theed Spaceport. It was a fairly populated area. If I was lucky someone else might strike up a conversation with me and save me from that awkward initial contact.
My fishing was interrupted by the sound of blaster fire and grunts of pain as two men tried to hunt the mostly harmless nuna nearby. Ah-ha! My medical skills! That’s how I could meet people. After all, I had enjoyed my time in the medical center chatting with the patients. “Where does it hurt?” makes for a good, safe ice breaker… so long as you’re not in a cantina when you utter it.
I followed the gents around with my medical kit, healing and chatting as we went. They seemed like pretty decent folks and so I asked if they wanted to join the guild. Presto! Two new recruits. I’d single-handedly almost doubled the size of the guild. Go me!
My excitement was quickly deflated when I spoke to the guild leader about it. He was less than impressed with my measly 2 recruits. He wanted more. Way more.
And so it went with everything I did or gave to the guild. It was never enough and there was never so much as a thank you. Within a very short time I found myself weary of unreasonable responsibilities and expectations. How did I get here? Is THIS what guilds are about?
I suppose the icing on the cake was my very first trip to a cloning center courtesy of a gang of native peoples as I tried to travel to that village in the middle of no where. It just wasn’t worth the risk.
I quit the guild and swore that I’d never join another. Certainly it would be much better to develop friendships where there were no strings attached.
Bermuda’s always been a bit of a free spirit. It’s rather difficult to keep him in the same place for very long. While we’d set down roots together there in Bestine, I should have known those roots could never been strong enough to hold my dear Bermuda in one place.
I’d eventually become accustomed to his habit of fading out of the picture to go adventure in distant lands…. But I’ll be honest, this first time I wasn’t expecting it. And it stung.
I was suddenly on my own. The house was lonely.
I remember having my tea one morning, staring at the wall that held his spare weapons and missing him…
I realized I had a choice to make. I could stay or leave. But if I was going to stay, I should do so with the intention of making the most of my life here. No good would come of wishing things would be a way they were not.
Bermuda had been the center of my social world. It was time for that to change.
Those first few months flew by. I stayed close to home while Bermuda adventured. But the loneliness of my work desk at home quickly got to me.
So packed up my fabrics, needles and thread and set out to work closer to the city. The medical center was there near the gate and provided some shade while I hand sampled for materials. I struck up a conversation with the head doctor there who offered to train me in basic medical techniques. I accepted.
Day after day I’d pack my bag full of supplies and sit in the medical center, sewing while waiting for the injured to come in for treatment. It was an ideal arrangement for me. I enjoyed the opportunity to help people and meet new folks. I had plenty of time to work on my clothing between patients. My career was progressing nicely.
One of the more odd things about living outside Bestine was the heavy Imperial presence throughout the area. It wasn’t uncommon at all to see troops from the doorstep of our home.
I was quite nervous the first time I was stopped and asked to submit to a scan. The Captain ran up to me as if I was going to try to make a break for it… with a dozen blasters at the ready?! To be surrounded by the group of them, all starring at me through darkened helmets was frightening.
The scan was soon finished and they moved on.
With so many troops around, it wasn’t long till I was used to such scans. I would even make small talk with the troops as they conducted their work. After all, it was good for business. Just don’t tell Bermuda 
One of the main reasons we set our home outside Bestine was because Bestine had a tailor trainer. While I know many who learned the trade from friends and aquantainces in the business, I always sought my training from the professional trainers found throughout the galaxy. The day I earned my ‘Novice Tailor’ title, Ms. Emaco was there in Bestine offering training for a fee.
I’d practiced making simple shirts and shoes up till that point, but now I was officially a tailor. Bermuda took this photo of me to remember the day…
Bahama, Novice Tailor
(Did I really ever look like that?!?)
Not long after we set up our new home, Bermuda greeted me on our doorstep with a ’surprise’ to show me.
See, he had this love of animals and even took the time and trouble to get them to follow him home. He always so excited to show me his new ‘Fluffy’. My reaction was usually the same.
“You’re not bringing that inside, right?”
That couch didn’t last long and I didn’t bother to try to replace it with another.
