To My Grandfather

This thing called life is so strange. We often spend hours maybe even a lifetime trying to make sense of things that have happened to us. My life similar to anyone else’s has had some interesting turns which I appreciate because they all add up to make me the unique individual that I am today. My paternal grandfather has lived in Trinidad for as long as I have known yet still I have never seen the man. He and my grandmother divorced before I was born. I grew up not knowing either of my grandfathers and this was normal, I saw nothing wrong with it because it was what I knew. A few years ago I came to the realization that my mother also did not know who her father was. For some reason unknown to us my grandmother never divulged this information. It is not my place to question why my grandmother chose nondisclosure, that is her business. She was a strong, wise woman and I know that she would never act with malice or ill will. Therefore she would have done what she thought was best in the situation. My mother did some digging and discovered her father. So into our lives came this wonderful man who did not even know we existed. He accepted us with open arms and an open heart. Now I have a very cool Grandad (who reads my blog by the way). This has opened up a whole branch of my family tree. It is a new and exciting journey for us and we will cherish every moment of it because we definitely don’t have time for coulda shoulda woulda.

So Grandad today is your day. I want to wish you a very Happy Birthday!!! I wish you God’s richest blessings today and everyday and I hope you have a wonderful day.

Happy Mothers' Day

Today is mothers' day, and I would like to take the opportunity to wish all mothers a Happy, Joyous and Blessed day today. In particular I want to give thanks to my mother for being the best Mummy in the world. I want to thank her for spoiling me rotten while somehow ensuring that I did not turn out to be a brat. I guess she could have done that because everything that she gave me was either a reward for an achievement or for general good behaviour. It was always clear in my mind that I was never entitled to any of the privileges she afforded me. I want to thank my mother for not allowing me to go to Water Colours when I fourteen (yeah obviously I was delusional to think I could have gone in the first place) but allowing me to part hard from sixteen (after CXC exams) onwards. Let me tell you that the parties were just as sweet I did not miss a damn thing. To think I was actually vex with her for not letting me go.

I want to thank my mother for getting me a job during the August holidays while I was awaiting CXC results because more than ten years later many of the things I learned on that job are still with me today. To think I was vex when she got me the job because I wanted to spend time with my boyfriend at the time who by the way is not around and I barely remember. I also want to thank my mother for supporting me through all of my academic attempts failed or otherwise. Lord knows that I have tried to study almost everything under the sun and continuously she has always stuck by me with words of encouragement.

In retrospect I think that my mother honestly did the best that she could have done for me at any given time. As a child I may not have recognized what she was doing and therefore may not have always been appreciative of her efforts. However as an adult I can safely say that I am where and who I am today because of the strong role my mother played. For this I thank my mother and although I may not always show it I am truly grateful for my Mummy in my life. So Mummy today is your day, have a great one and I love you dearly.