Page 139 - UWI Class of '74 Memory Lane

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Memories
Memory 1
Freshman’s week was a blast, attending every party, every night, for free food and beverage. At the end of the week I did a round-the-island tour, learned to drink Red Stripe beer, cultivated a lasting taste for Jamaican cuisine and indulged in Jerk anything and Jerk everything. I even developed some culinary skills, never having cooked before leaving home. The highlight of Freshman’s week was the request by a fellow student to exchange dates to the ball – he was short and she was tall whilst my date and I were evenly matched for height, if nothing else. He was denied!
Memory 2
Squatters Rights.I got into medical school, on the backs of benefactors spread across the region, as a UWI open scholar. The grant was based on a three-year programme. Any financial challenge was aborted by the institution of squatting. Signed out of Chancellor after term one. Moved from Block D to B. My roommate served in hall. Living on leftovers became the norm. Highlights: i) Elected block rep on the hall committee. ii) Vacation squatting in a balcony room. Adjoining room occupied by a paying student. It afforded weekend entertainment including candle light dinner, cooked on his two-burner hot plate, and Dubonnet wine.
Memory 3
Missing Child. My first born, Nicole, arrived shortly after second MB. She was an early developer walking at 7 months. She had her fair share of palymates in our Lily Way, Mona Heights neighborhood. She always ran out to greet me when I got home. One day, this did not happen and the child could not be found. Our fear was that a neighbour, an unstable woman, had captured her! However, guided by Jah, we drove down Hope Road and found her calmly standing at a bus stop holding on to a completely strange woman. Many thanks and praises onto Jah on high!
Life Highlights
v Immense role of my “illiterate” late mother in shaping our lives.
v Trinidad’s First consensual organ donor corneal transplant in 1986.
v The tremendous respect my wife, Sonja, commands among family and friends