Author Archives: bethpow06
FMM Peril On the Sea
“The human body has limitations. The human spirit is boundless.” ~ Dean Karnazes. When you spend your childhood in the church, there are certain hymns that take you way back. When you spend your childhood in a Jamaican church, you can add the choruses of the Ira D. Sankey clothback book to that mix. If, […]
FMM 8 30 19 Trains and Boats and Planes
“You’ll never find a better sparring partner than adversity.” ~ Golda Meir. In 1963, the long journey across the Atlantic from the UK to Jamaica began with a long train ride from the north of England all the way down to the south coast. As the youngest in the family, my responsibilities were few, so […]
FMM 8 23 19 The Essential Migrant
“But please don’t cry, dry your eyes, never let up Forgive but don’t forget, girl keep your head up” ~ Tupac Shakur. Around the time that Florence Nightingale was charged with leading a team of 34 nurses to work in a Military hospital in the Crimea, another nurse (or as she was also called, a […]
FMM 8 16 19 Nursology
“They don’t want to see us live together.” ~ Robert Nesta Marley. My first official job as a registered nurse in this country was at a large private hospital on Miami Beach. In those days (and perhaps still, for all I know), non-residents had to apply for a police identification when working on the Beach. […]
FMM 8 9 19 Yardism
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” ~ Marcus Garvey. I was a young teenager when Rastafarianism began to come out of the corners and into the light of day. It was mostly (if I remember correctly) due to Bob Marley, who not only […]
FMM 8 2 19 Self-inflicted pain
“Life isn’t as serious as the mind makes it out to be.” ~ Ekhart Tolle. One of the hardest lessons to learn, or at least to put into practice, is the art of living in the present. I can remember, even as a child, trying to prepare for new events by seeing them in my […]
FMM 7 26 19 Don’t get it Twisted
“The finest language is mostly made up of simple unimposing words.” ~ George Eliot. “Farmer Jones walked up the path, drunk as usual.” I have never forgotten that line, the opening line to a book thrust into my hands when I was maybe eight years old. I had just started school in the hills of […]
FMM 7 12 19 Taken for Granted
“Nature’s beauty is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude.” ~ Louie Schwartzberg. I am neither a sun-worshiper nor a frequent beach-goer. As a child I have two sets of memories of going to the beach. In my early years in the UK, beach meant a cold and usually rainy campsite within walking distance of […]