I have been conscious for years now that, as I have become a little older, I am not afraid to think, write or talk about death anymore.  But in spite of advancing years, I am very conscious that I have associates that won’t talk about the subject in any context.   I am beginning to wonder if I am really the odd one out.  To me death is the natural process which all living things have to succumb to.

I personally think and can say from my heart, that I have experienced 100% of happiness and contentment so far throughout my lifetime.  All the things that money can never buy in this modern time, this 21^st century, were never ever disappointing to me.  I think that I was truly born at the perfect time to allow me the best of two very different eras. I think that most of the friends that I grew up with, as a youth, in Kingston Jamaica, can say the same because we were close and friends did things together with mutual respect for each other.  There was not the need to be better than your peers in those days. I was not afraid or envious of any of them and I don’t think that any of them were afraid or envious of me, we were equal (but not in all things).  We had respect for the law and no one wanted to get involved with any wrong doings. I have often wondered what became of them and how much their lives changed after 1962; after Jamaican independence, when many things got worse before they got better again.

They are now adults in my age group, possible fathers and grandfathers and the girls then, are now mothers and grandmothers. I visualise having a reunion to see if they remember the things I do, having funs and enjoyment not at any one’s expense, I hope I will be able to have that reunion anywhere in the world (of their choosing) before I die.

By Rudy Morgan