Tag Archives: stories

FMM 5 9 25 ‘Follow me Part-way’

“We are all just walking each other home” ~ Ram Dass. I have had some interesting conversations while walking with different people during my life.  For a start I grew up walking.  Not like in the US where it seems you drive everywhere, at least here in South Florida, especially in the hot, humid, summertime.  […]

FMM 1 10 2025 Stardust and Stories

“All autobiography is storytelling; All writing is autobiography.” ~ J. M. Coetzee. I have spent the year so far in what I like to call ‘the land of my rebirth’.  Having been born in the UK and moved to Jamaica at age almost 8, I came of age here.  It is a place both beautiful […]

FMM 8 19 2022 Wild in the Country

“Good writing is like a windowpane.” ~ George Orwell. I must confess, when I was young I had a crush on Elvis.  Pinned with a thumbtack next to my bed was a postcard with his headshot in black and white.  This was before those four guys with the insect name (Earwig? Beetle?) started twisting and […]

FMM 7 2 2021 Sing me a Song!

“Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart.” ~ Pablo Casals. I moved away from home at the age of eighteen. After finishing high school in Jamaica, I returned to the land of my birth to see if I could reconnect.  I knew that I could happily live in Jamaica […]

FMM 5 3 19 Link me!

“The idea of shared humanity and the connections that we make with one another – that’s what, in fact, makes life worth living.” ~ Clint Smith.  One of the beauties of being a nurse is that you are legitimately able to ask people intimate details about their life, with impunity.  For a story teller, this […]

FMM 4 13 18 What about the Half?

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds!” ~ Marcus Garvey. My father loved to tell stories.  Whether from pulpit or stage, in front of a crowd or a small group, his melodious voice would weave a tale that never failed to entertain, amuse or teach.  Those of us who lived […]

FMM 1 20 17 Sense of Adventure

“The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?”~Dorothy Day.  I once got lost in the fog.  England used to be famous for its fog – ‘pea-soupers’ they used to call them.  Fog so thick you could […]

FMM 7 24 15 Shadow Boxing

“Thinking will not overcome fear but action will.” ~ W. Clement Stone. Metaphors and allegories.  My father used some phrases that I grew up hearing, and often not understanding.  “You have to box dicey” he would say.  From the context I eventually realized it meant to be careful, watch your step.  I don’t think he was […]

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 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 […]