Tag Archives: Jamaica

FMM 4 10 15 And a Book of Rules

“The opportunity for brotherhood presents itself every time you meet a human being.” ~Jane Wyman  Last year I learned an interesting fact about the culture of the people of the Dominican Republic.  We were having a ‘culture’ day in class, a day when I invite the students to bring an item that symbolizes their culture.  […]

FMM 2 6 15 To be a Pilgrim

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” ~ John Bunyan On Monday I traveled upon a bouncing bus, retracing steps down the years to the town and school of my youth. I was in the company of like-minded people, sisters and brothers though different mothers, […]

FMM 12 26 14 Old Memories, New Growth

FMM 12 26 14 Old Memories, New Growth “Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.” ~Napoleon Hill. I went for a Christmas Day walk in Wales yesterday and thought about pain. The walk begins with a steep climb (for those who know Chapelton, Jamaica, think of Salem Hill going on for a […]

FMM 12 5 14 Where Healing Begins

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” ~Mahatma Gandhi. It is troubling to live in a world where injustice appears to be the norm. Where bad news is distressing but not surprising; where people of color (especially the males) have to think defensively and act as if anything they […]

FMM 11 14 14 Strange Magic

“There’s a natural mystic blowing through the air”~Robert Nesta Marley.   For a long time I resented the author Terry McMillan (of Stella fame).   Her semi-autobiographical novel set in Jamaica came out not long after my first trip to my adopted home after fourteen years of exile.  I felt quite strongly that somehow the seed […]

FMM 11 7 14 Tell Me a Story!

“The telling and hearing of stories is a bonding ritual that breaks through illusions of separateness and activates a deep sense of our collective interdependence.” ~ Annette Simmons  I read a lot of books when I was growing up.  Summer vacations in rural Jamaica tend to be long and without much in the way of entertainment. […]

FMM 10 24 14 Year of Rebirth

“Ah but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”~ Bob Dylan   My daughter’s 35th birthday last weekend prompted my mind to scroll through pages of memories.  Not only of her childhood, but of a watershed year, one that followed my own 35th birthday.  For a start, I managed to get […]

FMM 9 26 14 The Alternative

“Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.” ~Maurice Chevalier. There is a term used to describe people who are not mainstream, we say they choose to live an alternative lifestyle.  I have always loved that thought, never wanting to be ordinary, to be just like everyone else.  Perhaps it comes from growing […]

FMM 9 12 14 Mirror, mirror, on the wall…

FMM 9 12 14 “Mirror, mirror, on the wall…” “How far that little candle throws his beams!  So shines a good deed in a weary world.”~ William Shakespeare The full moon shone through my window this week.  I can remember the moon in Jamaica, rising up over the cane piece and lighting up my bedroom.  […]

FMM 8 29 14 Satisfy your Soul

”It is the marriage of the soul with nature that makes the intellect fruitful and gives birth to the imagination.”~Henry James Thoreau   Jamaicans have a way with words.  One of their favorite adjectives is ‘nuff’.  And though it sounds as if it derives from the word ‘enough’, it is used to denote more than […]