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A little bit of life growing up in Guyana.  I was born in a house which was a little larger than my current bedroom.  There was a partition down the centre of the house which divided it up and made a bedroom, it was a little dire, to say the least.  

 

Times were very tough growing up as a child.  No new anything, Christmas was really only to go and see the shop windows. Don’t remember any presents ever, except when I lived in an Orphanage for about a year and a half.  I got a pencil case and pencils, which I thought was great, since it’s the only present I ever remember getting as a young girl, and in fact the nuns had forgotten that I was there and hadn’t prepared a present for me.  My sister Anita was with me in the orphanage and she made such a ruckus (she was a very unruly girl) they threw her out and my Mother didn’t want to leave me on my own so I spent a relatively short time there.

 

I didn’t mind living in the Orphanage, it was organized and as I was relatively young, about 7 or 8, I didn’t have much to do. I felt I should have contributed but hey when you’re little you don’t do anything.  One good thing about the orphanage it had indoor toilets and baths, whereas at home all facilities were communal and outdoors.  I used to bathe when it rained, all the children would be outside in panties and nothing else, warm rain.  Thank god for being a child I could bathe at the tap.  At the orphanage I remember going to Church daily and pulling weeds from the garden on the weekends or during the summer holidays.  

 

My mother was a rather thin woman who struggled with life.  She had four children whom she struggled to take care of.  Our father decided to return to Venezuela when Auntie Carmy was born and my mother decided she wasn’t going, so she had no husband and four young children, very tough.  When our grandmother died my mother decided to return to Venezuela to see if she could find him but he was no where to be found so we all returned to Georgetown.   I don’t remember much of Caracas as we were quite young when we were there.  Our father never bothered to enquire after us, guess his life was tough too, although I understand he had two families.  Miguel saw him a while back I think he was 90 at the time; and apparently he had two daughters who looked a lot like us; they are lawyers, no less.  The woman he married must have had money.

 

 I had two uncles, one who worked quite hard (Uncle Alfred) and the other who drank quite hard (Uncle Vincent).  The one who worked hard you could always get a few pennies from; the other one you’d get a laugh out of but nothing more.  Uncle Vincent had a daughter and a son.  I don’t know where his son resides but his daughter lives in the US.  I think that’s it for family, our family is rather small in comparison to families at that time.

 

I had a step-father who meant well but didn’t have much to offer.  I remember him making bird cages to sell, quite an art, but of course in Georgetown these things aren’t selling for much so life was difficult.  My mother did ironing for a family who were quite well off and they’d give her clothes for us from their children who were older than we were.  

 

As a young girl my outlet was the library, I’d read books and I’d be somewhere else, it was wonderful.  I did well enough in school and I was always in the top 6, no slouch, just no opportunity.

 

My mother died when I was about 15, I stayed with the Fungs until I left Georgetown in ’69 to go to Washington, DC.

 

When I was about ten years old I got very friendly with Auntie Cheryl and spent a lot of time at her house.  She didn’t have too much either but Papa James had a decent job and food was always available.  We had some good times together, Cheryl, Megan and I.  We’d go for walks on Saturdays and do fun things, we’d always be at the confessional box, don’t know why as we didn’t have many sins.  

 

Christmas and New Years were wonderful.  Christmas we’d have all the chocolates, apples, pears, grapes etc. (no presents) but we’d get a new dress, every Christmas and Easter also.  On Boxing Day friends would drop in and there would be partying etc.  On New Year’s morning we’d get up real early in the morning and see all the men and women dancing at 7 o’clock in the morning, dressed to the nines. As we got older we’d party together every weekend.

 

Life wasn’t very simple in Georgetown.  There were a lot of prejudices, skin colour, status, etc.  I got a job at William Fogarty, one of the main stores in Georgetown and worked as a cashier for a short period then progressed to working in the Accounting Dept. I worked for $8.66 a week and had to take the pay cheque home and received a dollar or less, I can’t remember how much, although I knew it wasn’t much, to spend as I wished.  

 

I took some courses while working; English, Accounting, Geography etc. as one didn’t go to high school unless one had some money, even if one was exceptionally bright one needed to buy books etc. and food was a priority, so books weren’t in the equation.  My mother couldn’t even afford the extra money for lessons to do the 11 plus lessons to go to high school - the cost of those lessons a mere $3 a month.  In any event, an education when I grew up was not a necessity, unless you had money as the govt. didn’t give a free high school education to the children.  I guess we were lucky we could read and write.

 

All the same I did have a lot of enjoyment in Georgetown.  We had a good time with the Johnson’s family.  We’d go dancing every weekend and sometimes we’d go to the base to swim in the creek.  Life was good, I loved dancing and enjoyed the time spent with the Johnson’s.   

 

There were so many of us and we’d all pile into a mini-minor (all nine of us) squashed in, we’d go to somebody’s house, the boys would play their guitars and we’d sing all the old songs, and have an old time party.  

 

When I was 16 I decided to play field hockey and that became the main focus of my life.  I found that I was actually athletic, enjoyed the sport and was decent at it.  I made the Guyana team in 1962 and went to Trinidad to represent Guyana, we didn’t do too well but that was OK, I was sick.  In ’64 we played at home and shared top honours with Trinidad and then in ’69 we went to the USA on a hockey trip, all I needed to pay for that trip was $100 and that was the hardest $100 I ever scraped together.   We went to Pennsylvania and Michigan.  It was rather chilly as we went in the Spring-time.  Early in the morning we’d go for breakfast but it was a rather long walk so we were freezing not being used to the chill.  However, it was rather enjoyable and it gave me a visitor’s visa to the States for 5 years.  

 

Auntie Shirley and I were friendly when we were about 10 or so but got very close when we were teenagers as we worked together.  I’m godmother to Eon, her second son.  We’ve been very close through the years and have always supported each other.  We didn’t really socialize in Georgetown as she moved with a different crowd.  She was rather poor as well but most of the people I knew were poor.  She got married when she was 18 and had two boys, Eon and Phil.  

 

She left Guyana in ’68 and returned in November ’69 for permanent residence to the States and suggested that I return with her to the States which I did.  While living in the States I decided to apply for residence in Canada because I thought it would be easier to get permanent residence here than in the States.  I sent in my application and got my permanent residence about three months later.  

 

When I arrived in Washington Auntie Shirley arranged for a job for me, while I lived in Washington and I stayed at her apt. for a while, she’s got a good heart - I think her wisest investment was Uncle Ken, he’s been exceptionally good to her.

 

While living in Washington, I was on a student’s visa so I went to Strayer College where I did a Secretarial course, shorthand etc. and got a B+ in my English, although that doesn’t say much, we all know how many Americans can speak the Queen’s English, however for me that was an achievement.  Then I left there and came to Canada in ’71.   

 

I met Dad in ’73, and WOW! It was love at first sight.  We met in September and went to Barbados for Christmas and from there it was all so very wonderful.  In ‘76 Dad worked at the Olympics and we went to see the Hockey, it was amazing.  I still remember Australia, it seemed as though they were playing a different game than the one I was used to.  

 

And that’s my life story in a nut shell I guess I can get into more detail but most of it escapes me, I should have done this earlier.

 

And here we are with two wonderful children, and if I haven’t told you enough times I’m so very proud of you both.

 

Love

 

Mom