Goodbye, Aunt Kitty       

It was Sabbath, May 1, the first Aunt Kitty-less Sabbath in 91 years. She had been noted for faithful attendance at Sabbath School and church, often arriving as much as a half hour early. But not today.



Mom Linda Parchment, and her sister Lydia Rogers, usually follow Aunt Kitty's tradition of being ready early. They were dressed and waiting on the verandah long before the rest of us.



Aunt Kitty's "daughters," Iralyn Trott and Myrnelle Haig, arrived at the University's chapel, which is still going strong after more than six decades. For big events, like graduations, they use the much larger Gymnatorium, which was recently completed, and can seat many more.



As the worship service began, Dr. Vassel Kerr, church elder and Dean of the University's School of Religion and Theology, issued the call to worship, and led in the singing of the opening hymn. Behind him and to the left is the pastor of the University church, Dr. Neil Reid. Beside him is Pastor K.C. Henry, now retired in Mandeville, and serving as one of the elders of the University Church. The blue chairs in front are for elders and deacons who would be ordained later in the service.



As the service progressed, Aunt Kitty's family was acknowledged and welcomed, and her nephew, Orville Parchment, was noted in his capacity as Assistant to the President of the General Conference of SDA. Naturally, they called him to the platform to bring greetings from the General Conference. Poor guy. No way to just sit and remain anonymous any more. So he did his duty, with a smile. The table on the left holds oil to be used later to anoint the ordainees.



Varied expressions from six ladies in the family: Aunt Lydia, Mom, Aunt Jill Parchment, Iralyn, Myrnelle, and Sheri Townsend, Aunt Jill's daughter.



Church Pastor Dr. Neil Reid delivered a powerful sermon on service, fitting for the occasion of the ordination of elders and deacons.



If you haven't been to the campus lately, you may not know about the additions to the chapel/administrative building, including more offices in the area that used to be a breezeway. If you look closely, you'll see the old College bell, still in it's original location, but now enclosed by structures.



And then it was on to Godfrey Lands and Mom's house, where everyone gathered for a potluck dinner. There were smiles and hugs all around. Aunt Rosa Parchment, Uncle Curtis' widow, arrived and was greeted by Erlinda Rugless and Beverly Henry.



Myrnelle and Valerie Shaw, Aunt Lydia's daughter, hadn't seen each other for more than ten years.



Cousins Valerie and Orville were old "combatants," who've had a friendly running "feud" since childhood.



Sheri and Myrnelle were seeing each other for the first time in many years.



Aunt Jill and Aunt Lydia were renewing their acquaintance.



Herbie Fletcher (Lee Herbert Fletcher III, if you want to be precise) represented his parents, L. Herbert and Olive Fletcher, who were not able to come for the funeral.



Sheri and Jean Parchment, Orville's wife, look like soul mates in this gorgeous shot.



Then we gathered around the table and I did a quick whip-around to capture everyone in attendance, beginning with Valerie, Mom, Aunt Lydia and a piece of Erlinda.



Erlinda took this shot of me and Herbie, one of the few guys with whom I can see eye to eye, if you know what I mean.



Freda Broomfield, who has been a part of the Parchment family since her teens; Sheri; Rosanna, Jean's cousin; and Eric Ulett, who lives in Mom's downstairs apartment and is her right-hand man.



Jean and her cousin Melissa.



Melford Thompson, Freda's son, and a part of the family since his childhood; Johan Haakmat, Jean's brother-in-law, husband of Pat (whom you'll see in a minute); Beverly Henry; Aunt Rosa; Myrnelle; and Clinton, Jean's cousin.



Aunt Jill and Pat Haakmat, Jean's sister.



Then we held hands for prayer and a blessing on the food. These are two Parchment hands: Orville, who was praying, and Erlinda.



As you can imagine, there was lots of good Jamaican food; the "stick- to-your-ribs" variety. (some might use the phrase "stick-to-your-hips," but I won't go there.)



And lots of tasty punch--the kind that makes you glad you have good food so you have an excuse to wash it all down with cup after cup of the stuff.



Mom wasn't hesitant about filling up her plate with the delicious fare that filled the table.



Neither were these ladies, who only paused this long to pay attention to me and my camera because I pleaded with them to.



Aunt Lydia was reveling in the tasty stuff.



And of course, there was good old Jamaican pone (pudding for the uninitiated) for dessert. I think I snapped this shot very soon after the pone was put out, because to the best of my knowledge it disappeared very swiftly after that, piece after lightning-quick piece. I think a couple folks even had multiple pieces, but I won't reveal any names.



Cousin Roy Brodie arrived when lunch was just about over and paused long enough for this shot with ladies surrounding him (lucky guy) before someone made sure he got a plateful of his own.



Ahhh.... Meal over, and now we could sit, chat and reminisce. I was telling them about a man I'd heard of that his Jamaican friends called "Two man." Why? "Because one man cyaan ugly so."



Pat and Johan Haakmat.



And then the photos came out.



There's just something about photos, isn't there? They take you back in place and time, and make you feel what you felt a score of yeas ago, or more. Nothing like 'em. Who knows? Maybe we'll be looking back on these pix some years from now, with a certain nostalgia, even though tinged with sadness.



The cousins, Valerie and Erlinda, had a grand time together.



Laughs all around. Except Clinton. A serious man? Didn't hear the joke? Dunno.



Meanwhile, Jean was being Martha in the kitchen. She took possession of it early, and was tireless in preparing, cleaning, washing and generally being a busy bee.



Orville was reviewing a photo of his son Norville (you may know him as Norvie, but that was in the past.) changing a diaper. A diaper? Norvie? Yes, indeed. I think the baby was Andrew, Lola Carby's grandson.



Then Javan arrived from California, having flown through the night to get here. He's the son of Will and Bev Nation. Will was Aunt Kitty's nephew, who passed away sadly in a drowning accident some years ago.



JV wasted no time in getting down to some Jamaican food. He's been to Jamaica several times, so this was familiar fare for him.



The last time Erlinda and I shared a potluck dinner with Aunt Kitty was in December 2003, when the Haakmats hosted us on a Sabbath. Erlinda's sister Avonie Parchment was visiting from Canada at the time.



After dinner that day, I captured this image of the three matriarchs: Aunt Kitty, Aunt Rosa, and Mom.

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Later I'll provide photos of the funeral, or perhaps I should say funerals, since there were services both at the University and in Southfield, St. Elizabeth, Aunt Kitty's childhood home. Check back in this same location for those.