Mrs Esther Mae Henry

Proud. Formidable. Fearless. Just a few of the words that come to mind when I reflect on Mrs Esther Mae or Aunt Mae as she was fondly called. She was a force to be reckoned with. A cantankerous soul, often misunderstood, but with a heart of gold.

A mother, by definition, is someone who bears a child and cares for, protects and loves that child unconditionally. As a mother, you are obligated to take care of your young but what do you call someone who sacrifices and selflessly struggles to bring up someone else's child. Aunt Mae, sadly, was unable to bear any children but she had more than enough love to go around. She had a hand in raising nieces, grandnieces and even a great grandniece whom she invested everything in from birth.

She was known to have taken on numerous problematic children within the family and thus my very young mother came to be under her care. I quickly followed and for 12 years she was mother, grandmother, aunt, grandaunt and great grandaunt to me as my child mind tried to determine her position in my life. Now from an adult perspective, there's no question she was a mother, my other mother.

I learnt the meaning of unconditional love from her and her husband. It takes a special person to take in another's child and love and care for her as if she was their own. I was not a well behaved child and I really put her to the test, lashing out in resentment and misplaced childhood rage. Yet no matter what she never gave up on me. She is the reason why no matter how hard it gets; the days when I find it most difficult to get out of bed, when the voices overpower everything and the darkness envelopes me; the image of her, the testament of her strength gives me that much needed boost to get up and mother my 3 kids. No matter how tough things got, no matter how desolate, she always managed to power through and its this fortitude I try to envision and embody to conquer my day to day struggles.

Looking back at my memories with Aunt Mae growing up in Jamaica, always leave me laughing uncontrollably, as I reminisce on what was then extremely embarrassing but now hilariously funny. I remember always getting into fights and Aunt Mae dragging me in her yard clothes, black wig cocked to one side and her exposed grey hairs peeping out the other side. Clothes pegs clinging onto the torn t-shirt and the dusty yard slippers quickly pulling me along to go show her who hit the baby. She was fiercely protective of me and ready at a moment's notice, to go to war with anyone who dared put their hands on me. She might have been getting on in age but her robustness never wavered. Just her sheer demeanor would make one think twice about confronting or challenging her; and she never backed down no matter the odds.

She was extraordinary, a tad eccentric, but dedicated her entire life to helping others. She spent the better part of her years helping those with mental illness and being an unsung foster mother. She taught me what it means to be a mother. That selfless, unconditional love and patience. The sheer will to never let anything or anyone best her not even her own failing mental health. She wasn't perfect, and i can't speak for any of the other kids, but she was perfect for me. The epitome of a great woman and great mother. May she finally find peace after a life well lived.