Personal Childhood Web

In reminiscing on my childhood days, I can recall my mother, father, grandfather, grandmother and my aunt Ethel, who baked the cake for my wedding day. These people are among the members of my immediate family and extended family members who have nurtured and cared for me during my developmental years.

My mother, Myrtle Briscoe, is the strong matriarch in the family who watched over her six children “like a hen would watch over her chickens.” She never allowed anyone to bully us when we were growing up. We grew up in a tough neighborhood, where if you did not have strong values and attitudes you could be lost in the “rough hood.”  My mother never allowed us to lose sight of the fact that all of us would get an education and stand tall in the society as successful career persons.

I can clearly remember her words even today as she reminded me, the eldest child, that although she does not have money to leave us as an inheritance, she is willing to sacrifice her life to ensure that we will get an education that “no one will ever take away from us.” I felt secured in these words and set my heart and mind to succeed.

My father, Sydney Briscoe, is deceased. He was the bread-winner in the family. On the day he was being buried, I remembered, teary-eyed as I looked at his folded hands on his breast, how hard he worked to look after us and I felt all shaken-up with grief. His hands I will never forget. They represented the bauxite earth that he worked in. They spoke volumes of the legacy of love, care, determination and honesty that he instilled in each of us. My favorite memory of my father was when he worked the night shifts and came home late. During those nights, I would still be awake to see him holding the Bible and reading over us Psalm 91- his favorite Psalm. As he read, I snuggled up in the comfort of the words that my earthly father was showing me what my Heavenly Father is like. This is a lesson I have never forgotten. This Psalm is still my favorite today.

 My grandfather, Richard Burrell, was my mother’s father. His life was the foundation for all his eleven children and many grand children. He was an elder and lay evangelist in the Seventh Day-Adventist church. His stories about his work as an evangelist thrilled our souls as children and whenever he came to visit us in our home, no one wanted to miss his adventures about his encounters with evil and his escapades from death. I believed in my grandfather’s faith and as a man of God, I was thrilled when he would ask me to pray as a child. His words still resounds in my head even as I write. “God loves to hear and answer the prayers of little children.” I felt so very special. Perhaps that is why I gave this heritage to my daughters and my little granddaughter-the heritage of talking and trusting their Heavenly Father.

I loved my grandmother, Adirissa Burrell. She was about my height 5ft. 2inches but she was a strong disciplinarian and a lover of using natural remedies. I strongly believe that knowing this about my grandmother has impacted my life forever more. I am a firm believer in caring for my family using the herbs and hydrotherapy.  I felt good spending time around my grandmother who knew the names of so many herbs to use for all different kinds of illnesses that I am sorry that she was not able to able to write her own story on the experiences with these herbs.

My aunt, Ethel Bonnello, was a terrific cook and seamstress. She was my father’s eldest sister and he told us that she was the one who taught him how to cook. She made us happy when we visited her home to watch television and to eat what she baked. I know that I got some of the skill of baking our cornmeal pudding and Totos from her!