The Love of a Father, a Mother and a Son
by
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“Samuel Patterson was advanced in years and had
become hard of hearing. He had established the young man’s family and that was
very important to him. He had now signalled his intention to fulfil a final
duty on behalf of his highly favoured daughter.”
“The reality of their five years plan did not turn
out as they expected. Ron had arrived in the industrial English Midland town of
“The company of physically fit young men with an
eagerness to earn money may have served to give Ron a lapse into amnesia. He
soon got into the British working culture of social drinking and late night
partying and in a matter of eighteen months after arriving in the town he
became a father for the eight time. At issue this time was the small matter
that his wife was more than six thousand miles away in
“By the arrival of Christmas of the following year
the level of concern over the separation of the family was again brought to the
forefront of her mind.”
“If ever there was a straw which broke the
back of the camel, then it came shortly afterwards when the travel fare was
finally raised and sent to Estry for the booking to be made and the children
dispatched to
“Ken was walking more slowly than the others
when his eyes fell upon the face of his mother. He wanted to move more quickly
to embrace her. But he could not propel his legs to move forward. His only
conscious thought was wrapped up with his gaze on the large stomach being
carried by Lize. The shock to his wide-open eyes was for the unexpected state
of pregnancy but in the falling of Ken’s jaws there was the horror that the
baby in his mother’s protruding stomach was just about ready to pop out! On the
side of the harbour! Tonight!”
“There was not enough time to consider the
clothes she was wearing or the state of her hair as Erva started out of the
door of the room when her mother appeared in front of her. In a short moment,
the physical space between them was usurped. They locked eyes. Their tears were
spontaneous. Each entered the embrace of the other without a single word being
spoken.”
“The door was slammed shut behind the young woman as
she turned away from her mother’s bedroom. Lize recognised that her children
were growing up fast and she had become resigned to watching them go on their
way, whether she gave her approval or not.”
“The others now being of age, Barry
inherited the mantle of the oldest son present in the yard. But this would also
mean more exposure under the eyes and authority of Lize. She had established
her method of bringing up children and while those ahead of him endured the
discipline of their mother, this would not go unchallenged by this most
tempestuous child. When the orders came down from Lize, more often than not,
they were not followed willingly by Barry. When the rules of the house were
laid down, more often than not, they were broken. Chalk and cheese had nothing
on this duo. “
“The relationship between Lize and her older
children would also begin to change as they adjusted to an uncertain future
without Ron.”
Many difficult situations are sometimes overcome, not
by any grand strategy but by a stroke of good luck. That was the case with
Vandley after he had gaffed his way through the airport custom control at
Kennedy’s Airport in
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Book Details
About the Book
Born
in
When
Ken had a change of heart and decided to remain on the island in the ministry
of the church each of the other children refused to rejoin their parents. Lize
fell pregnant at age 40. Upon receiving news that teenage daughter Erva was
drifting out of the control, she defied the advice of doctors to travel home by
ship. She then resorted to bring Erva back home. Ron returned home to his
family but after only a few months, returned to
About the Author
Born into a migrant
Jamaican family, R. George Riggon started out on a personal quest to trace the
historical movement and roots of his own family in searches that involved the
use of historical records of births, deaths and marriages in Africa, Jamaica,
USA, Canada and Britain. A desire to explore and share the rich source of
historical information on African and Caribbean family genealogy between as
many people as possible was the main motivation behind these works.
The author was raised
and educated in England. He attended the University of Central England in
Birmingham and Warwick University where he obtained a first degree in Sociology
and a Masters in Race and Ethnic Studies respectively. Postgraduate training in
research and management forms the basis of his professional work in public and
community service sectors.
His two books: ‘Living
As a Riggan’ and ‘The Love of a Father, A Mother and A Son’
celebrates the importance of family as an essential source of support and
inspiration for present and future generations. Their publication also
coincided with the bicentennial year since slave trading between the continent
of Africa and the European controlled colonies of the Caribbean was ended in
1807.