Even in her dying days, my grandmother was figuring out how she could take care of my brother and me. With her mind hazy and her heart failing, she rang me from her hospital bed one day, insisting in an urgent whisper that if I got a call from the hospital....

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I grew up with cousins, on my father's side. There about, let me see, 12 people living in the house...Mrs. Thaxter (mama) and Mr. thaxter(daddy) were the grqandparents and HEAD of the house. And NOTHING would go on without MAMA sanctioning it. and she was a church going lady. taught us songs, and made sure we went to sunday school. I hated going to sunday school!!!..

But anyway, jamaican grandmothers are phenomenal(sp). They lay down the ground rules for the family.

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