Author Archives: bethpow06
FMM 2 2 18 Good for You
“The right to protect the health and well-being of every person, of those we love, is a basic human right.”~ Elizabeth Holmes. Country children in Jamaica (I don’t know if it happened in ‘Town’ – Kingston also) were subject to a particular tradition. At the end of every summer vacation, in order to be ready […]
FMM 1 26 18 Blind Faith
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”~ Martin Luther King, Jr. They say you should never discuss politics or religion. After the past couple of years in American politics, you would have to be completely deaf, dumb and blind not to have been pulled into a conversation involving […]
FMM 1 19 18 The Nosebleed Section
“I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.” ~ Maya Angelou. I first felt the full force of racism in Jacksonville, Florida. It was 1978. I had driven there to take my Nursing Boards, what is now known as the NCLEX-RN. At that time there were three sites […]
FMM 1 5 18 Let Go and Accept
“Happiness can exist only in acceptance.”~ George Orwell. I have never been hung up on New Year’s resolutions. For whatever reason that was not something that was pushed in our household when I was a child. But the New Year has always been a time for reflection. In Jamaica, most churches hold a ‘Watchnight’ service […]
FMM 12 29 17 Breaking Out
“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”~ Edward de Bono. I just awoke from a terrible dream. I won’t bore you with the details, but it involved having multiple simultaneous responsibilities and no way to accomplish all of them in any meaningful way. Oh yes, […]
FMM 12 22 17 A Child is Born
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” ~ Frederick Douglass. We all have secrets. There may be those who declare that their life is an open book, but for the most part some things are best left to the imagination. My siblings and I were amazed, when we were probably over […]
FMM 12 15 17 Creating Traditions
“All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.”~ Dalai Lama. ‘Tis Christmastime…that time of the year when we see, hear and smell those familiar sensations that take us back to a simpler, more innocent time. A […]
FMM 12 8 17 Synergy
“And death shall have no dominion”~Dylan Thomas. One of the beauties of being transplanted from one culture to another at an early age (as I was) is that you learn very early to walk the line between two worlds. And it doesn’t seem strange. Children who learn to speak one language in the home, and […]
FMM 12 1 17 Choices
“Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.” ~Epicurus. In the 1980’s, Jamaica went through some challenging times. The Prime Minister (Michael Manley, a self-declared Socialist) had aligned himself too closely to Cuba’s Fidel for the US to be comfortable, and actions were taken to squeeze the country. The IMF and the […]