My son locked himself in a Bermuda bathroom.

My family visited regularly on business and looked for rentals and a school for him.

One of our last trips was a month before Covid shut the world down.

Arriving at night almost every time over a few years, I asked my son where we were? He always replied, “I hear the whistling frogs… Bermuda!”

We love the people, the history and the beauty.

Many of my engagements in Bermuda revolved around the insurance industry and government policy guidance to promote innovation.

My son had been fascinated with spies, walkie talkies, codes, and creating traps for my wife and me. We built KiwiCo projects that mirrored this interest. Periscopes. Invisible inks.

My son reached his peak when he discovered locks on doors.

At our home, most of the locks were ineffective and the doors could be pushed open with little effort. But, the house was built in 1937, in Idlewyld, Fort Lauderdale… (similar to education, some lessons are best learned by being hard…) was not easy.

He also began to articulate his ideas in ways that surprised us. He made us think. He still has a unique way of expressing his thoughts. A beginner’s mind. Always open to ideas and opportunities.

Looking at the world with wonder and optimism.

Several trips we stayed at the Rosedon on Pitts Bay Road, next to Bacardi world headquarters. A beautiful, historic hotel with world class service.

The rooms updated with brand new fixtures and doors.

My son had been listening to the whistling frogs that can be very loud at night. He ventured outside to investigate these little critters and decided to set up a path for them that included using the locks in the room…

It got late fast.

Past 1:30 am.

As I was watching him, he went into the bathroom and locked the door. He didn’t know how to unlock it. Immediately, my wife speaking to my son, I ran down to the night manager for anything to open the door.

The only tool that would free my son was a sterling silver fork.

Too often we find ourselves locked up and unable to quickly address barriers to opportunity. I kept calm and continued to speak my son through the process. He was calm, but confused by the lock.

I bent one of the tines and luckily,

managed to pick open the lock on the door.

Thank God!

(I bent the tine back before returning the fork).

To our surprise, my son was beaming! But as a parent, I was quite nervous.

He looked at me and, once again, famously said:

“Daddy, listen to the frogs!”

The Bermuda singing frogs…

does it every time.