A true friend for life🙏.

The Miracle of Friendship by Mayo Angelo.

A Miracle called friendship Dwells within the heart

You don't know how it happens Or when it gets it's start

But the happiness it brings you, Always gives a special lift

Then you realize that friendship Is one of God's most precious gifts!

It was my special blessing and precious gift from God to have had Ann Marie Hinds as a friend, for as I often tell everyone, she virtually saved my life.

So while her death from her point of view was a great relief, for me, her friends and family, it's a great loss. 

 For if there was ever an irreplaceable human being, it was my late Guyanese sister Ann-Marie Hinds nee Defreitas.

I first met Ann Marie around thirty five years ago when she and her young children accompanied her then husband Bill, who was transferred from Guyana to Jamaica, to head a division of the corporate office of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. (CIBC).

Ann Marie with one of her twin boys, Gino and I in November 2024.

 They had three very young children (including twin boys) but when the British High Commission in Jamaica needed someone who spoke English and Portuguese urgently to fulfill a temporary assignment,  they prevailed on her to assist them as she had lived for years in Brazil.

 However what should have been a temporary role there soon evolved into permanent employment and she spent quite a few years working there and living very nearby.

With Shadrach (partly hidden) on same occasion.

The Miracle of her importance to our lives was played out in July 1995 when Thor, my only son, who had just fathered his son Shadrach, was murdered.

If you have never trod that path, the effect of such an occurrence can never be understood.

For during that agonizing period of tragedy and shock, neither Michelle (Shadrach mom) nor I were capable of doing anything.

 And I mean anything, much less tending to the needs of a six week old baby.

But it was during period that God's special gift to us stepped in. For every afternoon after work, Ann Marie would drive past her own home without stopping, to head straight to our home, to bathe, feed and tend to our new born.

 I don't recall how many days or weeks she continued that absolutely essential act of mercy and goodness, but the blessings of having such a friend when we most needed it, can never be forgotten or repaid.

We were so happy to see her on Thanksgiving Day 2024.

As the years went by and some memories of that tragedy faded, our friendship grew stronger and when she returned to Guyana, I went and spent three wonderful weeks there with her.

But I have never been able to come even close to repaying her for the critical, life-saving role she played in our lives when we needed it most.

It was therefore especially devastating when around eighteen months ago, she visited Florida and during her time here, got ill and and was diagnosed with cancer. 

Guyana has a very advanced cancer treatment center, so she returned home and had to have two operations and undergo painful and debilitating bouts of chemotherapy.

 I was however overjoyed when she called in November 2024 to say she was feeling a little better, so was coming to Florida to again see her family and spend a few weeks with me.

It was during that visit that she started to feel unbearable pain and when we went to the ER, they discovered that the evil disease had gone into her liver. 

But the woman of courage that Ann Marie was, decided to accept her pending death, for as far as she was concerned, the treatment was worse than the disease.

(L) granddaughter Rayane, (R) daughter Anjeta.

If you have ever felt you owed someone your life but are unable to do anything to help them in their time of suffering, you may begin to understand how inadequate and useless I have felt during the months of her intensive pain and suffering.

For the agonizing pain she bravely confronted for months on end, was excruciating and heart-wrenching.

Yes, now her pain is finally gone but the impact she had on our lives will forever live on in our hearts.

Till we meet again, walk good mi fren.😥.

The final farewell

No matter how ill someone is and you know only death can only bring them peace, you are still very sad when you say that final farewell.

That's how it was as I attended my schoolmate Hughie's funeral yesterday.

He had gotten the terrible news some 18 months ago that he was diagnosed with that unnerving stage four pancreatic cancer.

Hughie and Wife Desi.

This is a lethal cancer that also killed the likes of Pavoratti and Alex Trevet shortly after they were diagnosed .

Being a doctor himself, Hughie knew he had no chance of survival.

He tried to take the kemo but could not stand the terrible side effects. So he went to Mexico to try an alternative. 

While he knew it couldn't cure the demonic cancer, at least the side effects were not as bad.

He could now eat the foods he loved, have more time with his family and even return to his practice occasionally.

 But he knew it was only a matter of time, so he had to make the best of life,  one day at a time!

Faith DAguilar, well-known  Jamaican soloist, sang " One day at a time" and "God will take care of you"  for Hughie.

Very appropriate.

His funeral was held at the historic Mandeville Parish Church, St. Marks, which was built in 1820.

Dr. Bryan Morgan, former schoolmate and friend, spoke about his days at Munro College.

Hughie's daughter and her best friend delivered the eulogy.

It was more a celebration of Hughie's life, but as I ran into other schoolmates from our era, it reminded me how few of us are still around and healthy to boot!

I am happy that I got to visit him a year ago when he was feeling good and had even returned to his practice for a few hours daily.

Walk good mi fren.❤️

No butterflies😊

I haven’t been riding much in Florida as I find the terrain so flat and boring. 

So my bicycle has been gathering dust in the storeroom.

I however jumped to it when my Guatemalan friend Rosa called to find out if I wanted to go to Butterfly World in nearby Coconut Creek, to ride. 

Having never been there before too, was a major incentive as I love to learn about new places.

Rosa is fully equipped for riding as she has a sturdy bike carrier, a good pump, (my tyres are always soft😫) and a large electric bike, so she picked me up.

 (The electric bike weighs a whopping 65 lbs! However she has a ramp to load it on to the carrier.)

We didn’t go into Butterfly World though as the entrance fee is $35!

To look at butterflies ?😡

Anyway there is much more to the park than butterflies and you don’t have to pay to be in the great outdoors if you are not riding horses, playing baseball or riding the railroad .

It’s a really nice family oriented outfit with horses, (including horseback riding) kids’ railroad, sports’ fields, cows, goats and chickens.

 

On seeing the small stock, and having just returned from the most wonderful safari in Botswana, (https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2023/03/heaven-on-earth.html ) I jokingly enquired from Rosa if we were at a Florida safari. 

That made her day😂. 

It was a great outdoor adventure while getting fresh air and good healthy exercise, and of course, the horsing around, camaraderie etc.

To cap it off, she had some delicious barbecue ribs and ice cold beer at her place so tired but happy, we knocked it off before I was dropped off.

A healthy happy way to spend a Saturday wouldn’t you say?

GREAT MEMORIES 

 

Anti immigrant crap

It appears it is almost impossible to go anywhere in the USA without running into some idiot who thinks it uplifts them to spout anti-immigrant crap.

You would imagine too that in 2022, in a country where 99.9% of the population is either an immigrant, or possibly a descendent of one of many who have blood on their hands, having murdered the native people and stolen their land, you would find that type of nonsense receding, but the very opposite seems to be the case!

I was reminded of this during what should have been a carefree and pleasant camping outing arranged by our fearless, super organizer of Meet-up fame, Jennifer, at Camp Chowenwah near Jacksonville.

Jennifer prepares the campfire

So highly anticipated was this event that Beth from Guatemala even organized to spend her vacation in Florida with her friend and countrywoman Rosie, in time to coincide with the event.

I have been on many Meet-up events and really enjoyed them so will be writing a few blogs to record the wonderful times we had this time, but had to get this off my chest.

On this camping trip, there were nine of us, two from Jamaica, two from Guatemala, four from the USA and we were joined by Dania from the Dom Rep. She had really come up to enjoy the peace and serenity of the area with her husband who works with NASA at the nearby Cape Canaveral.

On the first night, we gathered around the campfire to bond and exchange stories, but one participant tried to make it into an unpleasant affair. For when Beth and Rosie introduced themselves, her snide remark was to the effect that they should not speak lest they be sent to Massachusetts by Governor DeSantis!

Unbelievable.

Rosie on her trusty bike

For those who are not up to date on Florida news, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis recently  had some Latin speakers from Venezuela who had applied for amnesty in the USA, sent packing to Martha’s Vineyards, where they were told there were jobs and milk and honey waiting for them.

Of course, it was a lie!

What was especially repulsive is that the speaker who tried to spoil our camping trip, had a very thick foreign accent herself, although she claimed to have come from Colorado!

Thank heavens, our new friends, though hurt by the mocking remark, were in such high spirits that they simply ignored her for the rest of the time and enjoyed themselves with the other more civilized participants.

L-R; Dania, Rosie, Sonia, Beth (behind) Joan (in front)

It was really wonderful having them around and even when we were ready to depart, Rosie rode over to our cabin to invite us to breakfast.

We five, put all our surplus food together, cooked breakfast, ate, bonded, laughed, listened to music, exchanged stories and had a wonderful morning together.

And we will be friends for years to come, thanks to Jennifer who organized another enjoyable trek into the great outdoors.                                                 

 Link;  https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2022/10/glamping.html?m=1

 

Alligator Church Ride

I have always heard that there are no alligators in Jamaica, nevertheless, I went off with Fun and Thrills yesterday to see if any had turned up in Portland and and take a look at their church.

While I saw dozens of churches on the way and even a funeral in progress, I never saw any alligators and not even a crocodile (thank God).

Nevertheless it was a great day out organized by the dynamic team of Charles the 1st and the other Charles, aka ayatollah.

While we the lowly pretenders (to riding) drove to Port Antonio, the dynamic trio made up of Terr-Ann, Johann and John decided that it was too dibby dibby a ride for them, so they opted to ride all the way from Kingston, leaving at 3.40 am yet they arrived in Port Antonio minutes after us who  drove out at around 6am.

The folding bike on the left

(Incidentally, John is a British man who is pursuing doctoral studies in the USA and is visiting Jamaica to do some research. He brought along his folding bicycle and since Larry told him about us, he made contact with Howie. )

In Port Antonio, we were treated to 5 star restaurant reception with mento band and all. Not only was the ambiance impressive at Anna Banana, but also, although the breakfast was morish, the mackerel rundung that I had was absolutely delicious.

And this place is on the beach just outside of port Antionio, a lovely little place indeed discovered by Charles 1st.

There we were joined by another Foreigner, this time from Ireland. 

His name is Colin and he is in Jamaica riding around and getting to know the culture. He too was told about us by Larry (Larry seems to be our greatest admirer!)

After breakfast we warmed up with a coast ride to San San, on a suggestion by Howie. On the return journey I told Pat about the  cute little church at Trident hotel and coincidentally, saw the security at the huge closed gate, peeking over the wall. We asked him if we could come in an see the church and not only did he oblige but also he took the picture of us with the church in the background.

On returning to Anna Banana we regrouped and headed toward our destination, Alligator Church Bridge.

It was  a pleasant ride on a reasonably surfaced road until we got to Friendship and made the left turn. The roads in that southern area leave a lot to be desired but the ride was not strenuous and the scenery refreshing.

 When we got to Alligator Church Bridge, some riders opted to continue on  up to Millbank while others waited until after they had  tested the river and eaten . The rest of us just stayed there the entire time swimming, playing dominoes and lyming.

 Of course I had to play dominoes with my now regular partner Chris and we dropped the big one on Carolyn and Fatman. Then Chuck came for his share and but after a few "bruks" (we were  playing bruk an spoil") we were warned by Simpson that the food was being rapidly consumed so we needed to get our share. So Chuck was saved from the same fate that Fatman had suffered with Carolyn!

While we were there, who arrived but the entire Assam family, baby and all and we were told that Penny and Stefan had alternated on the ride up to Alligator Church Bridge!

Monique, Chully, Carol

 The food was absolutely wonderful except they had no ground provisions and just a little green bananas which was all consumed  by the time we arrived. The only alternative was plain rice.

The janga run dung, busu soup and busu and janga stew with pigs tail was out of this world, almost as good as the first time I had maroon food in Milbank. 

The river was warm, deep and inviting although it had a slight current  but we all had a wonderful time and I know this trip will be spoken of for years to come,  as we relive the fund memories.