Sandra Brown's Web Page

My Life In The West Indies

I was born in Jamaica West Indies on a Friday evening about 4 pm at 4lbs,and two months early. My mom had just come home from the market and ate a big mango when the pain started. My Father went to get the midwife who came just in time to deliver me. Both my parents were surprised since I was not due until august. I came out screaming stating that I am here to stay even at 4 lbs. My midwife cleaned me up and gave me to my mom who put me on the breast where I ate heartily for the next 11 months. I never spent one day in the hospital. The midwife who I grew up to know as Nurse Lyons would visit me every morning. She would weigh me, and check my belly button until it was healed. I was getting along fine and gaining the appropriate weight My parents started life out in a little one bedroom apartment. When ever it rained heavily, water seeps under the door because the area was so flat and there were no drainage pipes. There was one bathroom and one kitchen that the tenants and the landlord would use. Kerosene stove or wood fire was used to cook. Those who were more opulent would use the kerosene stove. At age 4, I started my education in a one room school, learning the rudiments of grammar and math. Mrs. Bolan my first teacher was very strict and expected her students to learn. We had to learn the months of the year, the alphabet, and spelling. At age six I entered first grade reading and knowing the basic principles of addition, subtraction and multiplication. Our family finally graduated from a wood/coal stove to the famous kerosene stove. There were many days the stove would blaze and our food would taste of kerosene. My mamma would get so frustrated. My mom would still bake on the coal/wooden stove. The best tasting foods and cakes were done on the wood fire. Now I realized that Most of my foods were smoked. I was way ahead of my time. A couple of years later we graduated to gas stove, refrigerator, electricity and an inside bath room. We now had a three bedroom house that was built one room at a time. I remember using a hammer to help break the stones into small pieces to mix in the mortar. Looking back it was hard work but we consider it fun, watching the pile of stone get higher and higher while we are sitting at the top of the pile. We lived in the house while the contractors worked on building it. I now have three siblings to play and fight with. My dad started out as a dishwasher in the hotel and worked himself up the ladder to become the head chef at one of the famous hotels on the island. Whenever he worked late at nights, he did not have to come home, because the hotel provided him with a cottage to rest. As children we were happy to visit Papa and spend a few hours in the air conditioned cottage. This was exciting for us because the homes were not equipped with central air. Compared to other children in the neighborhood, we were exposed to different foods due to fact that Papa would open up our appetites to other foods. Life in the island of Jamaica was beautiful then. Children played out doors until all hours during the holidays without fear of being kidnapped. At age 8 I was traveling to school by my self on the taxi or bus. Some children would steal away and go the beach after school which was in walking distance depending on what part of the island you lived. I was too fearful that my mother would kill me if she knew I went to the beach without her knowledge, so i never went. At age 17 my father decided to migrate to the US to help further our education. That is another story. Tune in for the next chapter of my life.

Flowchart

Resume

Future Goals

Professional Organizations

View My Guestbook

Sign My Guestbook

PowerPoint Presentation

Thank you for visiting my page at Angelfire. Please come back and visit again!