Tag Archives: stories
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 […]
FMM 7 25 14 Finding your Purpose.
“Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” ~ Viktor E. Frankl It has been almost 40 years since my Uncle Glyn died. I am now about the age he was then. My uncle dream me the other night (= I had a dream about him). And so I […]
FMM 10 18 13 Be on the Lookout
‘Never fall in love with your disease’~Luis Gaviero I used to joke that education is expensive, thinking of the high price we have to pay for some lessons rather than the cost of schooling. Whether it is a relationship that turns sour, or an adventure that puts us behind bars, it may be hard at […]
Friday Morning Messages 