A wonderful matriarch

Grandma Williams surrounded by children and grandchildren  as she celebrates a birthday

I remember as a teenager, loving and always singing a popular song which was regularly played on the radio, painting mothers-in-law as the worse people in the world. After years of brainwashing,  I was absolutely terrified at the thought of having any such person entering my life!

However, it must have been my good karma that allowed me to acquire a lady who was absolutely beautiful, outside and within, to play that role in my life for more than a decade. 

Her name was Hazel Williams and she was the very opposite of what the song prepared me to expect.

And if I expected things to deteriorate between us after I divorced her son, I could not be more wrong, for, over the next thirty years, our relationship evolved to the point where she became my surrogate mother and later, one of my very best friends.

Her eldest great-grandson, says goodbye

My only regret is that I did not get to see more of her after I migrated to Florida some three years ago. For, I did not get back to Jamaica often and she being over ninety, had suffered a stroke and was immobile, so could no longer travel.

 I knew that because of her condition, I could have received a call at any time, saying that she died. However, I was especially disappointed and devastated when I did on the early morning of t Tuesday 19th March 2019. For the very day before, I had booked my flight for a holiday in Jamaica and had told myself that the first thing I would do after leaving the airport would be to visit her, before traveling on the same day to Duncans, Trelawny, my final destination.  

I was, therefore, a bit traumatized that I did not get to see her alive one last time.

I however immediately booked a flight for her funeral as I just could not allow someone who had been so kind to me and whose company I so cherished, to be buried without telling her well-wishers how wonderful she had been to me.

Some of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, pose for a photo

Also, if I had any fear that there would be a shortage of tributes, I certainly could not have been more mistaken, as after living for 97 years, (she died the day after her 97th birthday) she had touched so many lives positively. 

Dozens of her friends and relatives from all parts of the world made the pilgrimage to join those at home to honor the great lady, the matriarch of the Williams family, who kept that large family tightly knit.

 Many paid tribute to her and all the accolades were extremely interesting, enlightening and in no way exaggerated.

She had lived a good, useful and happy life and deserved her rest, we all agreed, so this was really a celebration of her long, valuable life.

Walk good my friend and thank you for your friendship and love.

One upside of funerals is that it gives you an opportunity to reconnect with people you have not seen for a while and this was no exception, for the day before I returned, I got the opportunity to go to the popular fun spot called Ft. Clarence, to hang out by the beach with some of the fellow mourners and enjoy the fish delicacies that the area is famous for.

I also think Mrs. Williams was watching out for my welfare up to the day I returned to Florida, as my flight was delayed for around two hours and waiting on them, I had fallen asleep and had not heard the boarding call. I was only able to dash to the plane seconds before the door closed when I heard my name on the intercom, with a final boarding call and a threat to remove my luggage!

Whew, that was a close call. 

It must have been my late friend who pinched me and woke me up!

Thanks for that last favor my friend. Your memory will always be precious and cherished by me.