Earliest Recollection

My earliest recollection of life is not one of tranquility and bliss but the traumatic physical force of being pulled apart in the middle of a public bus by my very own parents. I cannot recall the incidents that led up to the episode but I distinctly recall being pulled apart as one parent hanging onto one half of me and pulling me towards the front of the bus while the other parent was hanging onto the other half and pulling me back towards the rear of the bus. I also clearly remembered the anger of the bus driver. I remember him not sitting at the wheel but standing at the top of the aisle and yelling at both my parents. Neither parent ever mentioned the episode but it was distinctly etched in my mind.

The incident happened in Lucky Hill, St. Mary (this came to me later). The bus was on the main road coming from Kingston and going towards Guys Hill and the stop was where the local road from Jeffery Town (I think) met that main road. Having had to catch the same bus there on many occasions later, I came to realize that this was the location of the incident. It was an afternoon, and the bus was one of those long buses with bright colors (browns, reds, and yellow) with a carrier on top. It had two seats on each side and an aisle in the middle but it was not full as my parents seemed to have had full use of the entire aisle in the middle.

I am trying to remember who won the tussle or how the incident even ended, but the altercation and the uproar it caused on the bus is something that was etched in my mind and has stayed there forever.

Who would have thought that with such a violent beginning my life and memories of Jamaica would have been happy ones.

Stay tuned for more….