October 24 is here again. It's been 9 years since Sylvia died suddenly from malaria.
Here are top 10 things I learned from her:
1. Live in a beautiful place
2. See every part of the world you can
3. Get into a swimming pool whenever possible
4. Stop the car if you think you see a monkey
5. You can open a can of tuna or sardines and eat anywhere
6. A dinner mint will solve any nausea you get from eating a tuna sandwich while driving down a winding road.
7. Comparison shop
8. It's not a depression mentality, it's "good Yorkshire sense"
9. Visit your mother whenever you can
10. And as true today as the day she said it in 1996 "Gail is kind of high strung".
We miss you Sylvia.
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ReplyDeleteThat's a really clever tribute to Sylvia Gail. I continue to come to know her via those whom she continues to live through. Although I wasn't so fortunate as to meet her, she reinforced something I too value - the treasuring of our environment as well as the other creatures that inhabit it with us.
ReplyDeleteBased on my interaction with her progeny (in whom she instilled such humanity), I have learnt how:
1) Important family are (even though staying true to that is a REAL test for me sometimes with my own siblings!);
2) That the war is over (in terms of my desire to retain leftovers);
3) How not to be cheap even though I'm not Rockefeller;
4) Invaluable our indigenous species are, especially our bird life;
5) To go for your dreams and have staying power even when it gets really rocky
Still TRYING to learn how:
6) To be quietly strong while still being humble;
7) To NOT want to take a hostage when people show unremitting disregard for the environment and conservation;
8) To have a writing life;
9) To be patient;
10) To pay attention to details that sometimes go over my head;
Thank you for your children Sylvia, and all that you have done for Trinidad and Tobago.