A Person I Miss Dearly..

By Alicia Jabbar (320076121)

15th August, 2023
For many years, I have managed to subdue the emotions that allow human beings to miss
each other. It was not that I did not care for my family or close friends; I just tried not to
think of anyone when they were away from me. I would drown myself in a good book and
lose myself completely to fiction, thus never truly recognizing that a person was missing for
a moment in my life. And when I became an adult and moved miles away from my
immediate family and friends to pursue a Degree from the University of Guyana, I did not
miss anything or sadly anyone. I told myself that it was an adventure worth taking and if I
thought of the place I came from and the people I left behind, I would lose hope and return
without accomplishing what I had set out to achieve.

This attitude that I had thought I developed over the years had not prepared me for the
blow that I would have received in June 2017. It was an ordinary day and my thoughts
were completely on the assignment due by the end of the week when the call came through.
It was my mother at the other end of the line, crying profusely. I remembered how she had
finally told me that my grandmother had passed away. At first, I thought of nothing. My
mind became blank and numb without emotions. Then, I grabbed my album and tore
through its pages to a photograph of her. The tears spilled over like hot larvae from an
erupted volcano as reality settled in.

As I said I never truly thought I would miss anyone until death has taught me the true
meaning of the word. She was my world, my rock, my confidant and a second mother. Ever
since her passing, each day I am being reminded of her memory. She was a farmer and a
vendor at the local market and many times I would pass vendors with their baskets of
sapodillas, oranges or Awarros, the three fruits she sold mostly. I have children now and
how my body has shaped out just as hers: small upper body and huge lower bottom. Now, I
wonder if I miss my grandmother so dearly, how do I cope with losing someone who is close
to me, since death is inevitable.