Southern Love in the Desert

When actor/poet Brian hosted the Damn Good Music Movement “Soul Lounge” showcase in 2010, he didn’t realized he’d caught the eye of a South Carolina-born singer. She sang him a birthday serenade, and they went their separate ways.

After three years of pleasantries, invites and random run-ins, they finally exchanged numbers. And they’ve been inseparable ever since.

Here’s Brian’s and Collette’s story, as told by Mrs. Watson:

Brian is much more adventurous than his fiancee’. So, when we traveled to his parents’ native Jamaica, he had no problems traveling deep into the bush in a taxi. And by “taxi,” I mean dilapidated late model car missing one door. But, I digress.

So we traveled miles through the bush, no pavement in sight, when out of nowhere a beautiful clearing emerged. There was a sparkling blue swimming pool, a fully stocked bar, and a multicolored boutique inn. Under a few trees, a mysterious hole in the ground was surrounded by local kids.

The hole turned out to be a natural spring known as the Blue Hole, and the site had attracted college students on spring break. They were gleefully strapping on life jackets and jumping thirty feet to the waters below.

I got nervous.

I knew Brian wanted to try it, and I didn’t want to be the killjoy, so I started pacing back and forth. Just as I made up my mind, I spun around and there stood my love, with a beautiful diamond ring in his hand.

“Will you take this leap with me?” he said.