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Great-Grandmother, Grandmother, Mother, Wife, Woman. A life well lived, a story well woven with threads spanning across the globe. A mother to many, Grandma to me.
Grandma J, that’s all I knew you as initially. My Grandmother that always had sweets and rosaries. Grandma is our precious jewel that money cannot buy. The house where all my cousins were always in, where the best sleepovers of all time happened. These were the things young me knew.
As I grew older I got to know more about you as a person. I got to know about LAJ, Lucretia Admire Jarrett, the fashionable loving woman who always showed up and showed out for the ones that needed her.
From Birthdays, to Graduations, Grandma was always there in her full regalia.
Although most of my adulthood has been spent physically away from you, the clarity of childhood that comes with age has made me appreciate you more. From going to morning mass, in Catholic Church of ascension Bodija to the constant teachings and prayers you were a God fearing woman.
The last time I saw you, you prayed for me and wished me a safe and prosperous journey into a new country, if 18 year old me would have known that would be the last time he would see you, maybe he would have held you a little longer and told you how much he loved and appreciated you a little more often. How much he appreciated you coming to his visiting days in secondary school, coming to his birthdays while away at boarding school, although he tried to front like he was a grown man and didn’t need his grandmothers there. He did, and he appreciated everything. It is a memory he will cherish forever.
Truth is Grandma, I haven’t fully come to terms with reality. There were more events that I had hoped to see you smile as you witnessed, to hear you say “Banky, I’m so proud of you”.
More questions I had to ask, more stories I wanted to hear but the great thing about you is you’ve left a plethora of beautiful people behind who have pieces of your essence dwelling in them and I know that if ever I need a story, an answer or I just miss my Grandma, I can always look to my family and see shades of you in each and everyone.
I love you Grandma, you will always be our precious jewel… till we meet again.
Love,
Your Banky.