MY FAVORITE UNCLE, Alan

My favorite uncle, Alan, has a heart like an angel. To this day he shows almost no signs of aging. in his early seventies. His skin is a deep coffee. He is kind hearted with a healthy temper, if pushed too far. he has a strong muscular build from years of hard work. He possesses a kind chiseled face. His eyes are deep and warm. He is known as a man of great honor in all his ways, business and personal. He is respected and loved by all respectable locals in Portland, Jamaica.

Anyway, let me tell you how he saved my life. On the occasions when mammy(maternal grandma) would come to visit me in Kingston at my father's home, I would beg to return with her. On those return visits, we would not get back to the countryside until deep in the dark of night. Mammy would, usually stop to visit uncle Alan, on her way home with me. It was on those occasions that uncle A, would prop me up on a stool at his dining table and mix me a drink of Guinness stout(beer) with sweetened condensed milk, garnished with cinnamon and nut-meg.

"Mammy, my God this child is starving to death." he would remark as he placed the drink in front of me to drink. As usual I would take a sip and then hesitate... at which point he would drag off his strap from his waist and order me to , "drink it up, now, Miss. D." Timidly I would suffer one more gulp, then he would strike me, once to assert his position. Mammy's protective launch would cause him to turn on her with his threatening strap over his shoulder, shouting, "you want , take lick, mammy!" Immediately, mammy would back off. The threat of that belt, forced me to gulp down the bitter, sweet concoction.

After several days of this nourishing drink, I would start to feel happier. On my returns home after such visits, my sister's friends would ask in exclamation; Yvonne, is dis you little sista, Miss D? My sister would say "Yes, man it is Darachie." "Lord king, a how she swell up, so?" "She look good!" It would not be much longer before I would lose the weight, again, as usual. My uncle, literally, saved my life.

I'll tell you why I was a thin child in the next posting. Thanks for your comments, friends.
Uncle Alan's picture will be in the upcoming auto-biography.