When home is Long Island and another country

At least once a year, I board an airplane for Jamaica, my homeland. The waterfalls, mineral baths, historic places and other attractions on this Caribbean island beckon me as much as they do the visitors who flock there.

It's not only about relaxing on a sunny beach and enjoying delicious lobster, freshly caught and custom-cooked for me, however. It's also about family ties and responsibilities and keeping long-standing friendships alive.

I'm a naturalized U.S. citizen and have lived here for several decades. New York is where I had my post-high school education, worked for more than 20 years as a Newsday reporter and developed as a well-rounded individual - thanks to the plethora of information and experiences available.

Most of my close friends and some family members live in the United States, so I have roots here, and I'm immersed in this culture, as I am in Jamaican culture. And so I am caught between two worlds. I must share my time between both places - and will, even in retirement.

Initially, many immigrants may plan to retire in their native country but, after becoming established here, are deterred by depressed economics and social problems back home.

However, there are others who prepare themselves mentally and financially to make adjustments. Some born in the tropics flee from winter's wrath.

For Gene and Pauline Blackwood, Long Island is home, but the Jamaican immigrants embrace their heritage. They have been in the United States for more than 30 years and have resided in Westbury for 27. Gene is in real estate, and Pauline is a pharmaceutical sales specialist.

At home, they cook Jamaican fare, including rice and peas and curried goat, two of the island's most popular dishes. The couple visits Jamaica at least twice a year to be with family and friends. At family cookouts and fish-fries by the beach, they enjoy foods with flavors unavailable elsewhere.

"Caribbean seafood has a different taste from the seafood here," Gene notes.

Sports are a strong link to culture. Gene, 60, and his mostly West Indian friends fly to Jamaica to watch cricket. In Westbury, they gather at one home to watch the World Cup on television.

Gene does feel the pull of the island. "If we had the right money, I'm gone to Jamaica tomorrow to live," he says. "I'd go and start a charity."

He has no intention of forgetting his roots and still speaks his native Creole. "Me no leave mi accent," he says in the vernacular. "I decided that, even when I was going to college."

Though Long Island is home, Gene says, "You never feel 100 percent in this country. But why this is more home for me is because of my grandkids. We have to make sure we set them on the right track."

Pauline loves Long Island because "everything is here. The shopping, tennis courts, the parks; and everything is easily accessible. I can get all of my West Indian products," she says. "Living in suburbia is the same feeling as living in a home in Jamaica. I've made Long Island my home."

Antigua native Claxton Francis, 65, is committed to Long Island and sings its praises. Now retired, Francis has been in the United States since 1958.

"I'm a New Yorker. I'm a Long Islander," he declares. "For many years, there was always the thought that maybe one day I would go back, but one day while driving on the Northern State, I had an acute awareness that this is home - that 'back there' is no longer home."

Francis has a background in banking and computer science and was a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. "I'm an American. I fly the U.S. flag from Memorial Day to Labor Day."

He and his wife, Maria, who is from Trinidad, visit relatives on the islands in the winter or spring.

"We like to drink coconut water off trucks and visit markets for varieties of mangoes and other fruits not available here," Maria says. "There was a time when you went for foods you couldn't get here, but you get all that here now. I enjoy going there, but I can't say I miss anything. I've been here too long."

But there are drawbacks, Claxton says. "Living here is expensive, and I don't like the taxes." However, he says: "you build up associations. The associations I have now are Long Island-based. If you go, you have to reconstruct all of this. Most people who try it have to come back. Medical is critical, especially at this age. On Long Island within 20 minutes you have first-class medical care."

Claxton and Maria say they have plenty of company. "There are a lot of Caribbean people here. We all love it here," says Claxton.

Glen Head hairstylist Susana Hernandez, 49, said that if she goes back to her native Ecuador to retire, it would be for the climate and the food.

"In Cuenca, the town where I grew up, it's very tropical; not too hot, not too cold, and there's organic food," she says. And it's peaceful. . . . To retire here, I need a lot of money."

Still, she says. "I love Long Island. This is my second home."