I can vividly remember one of the first places we lived in Nassau. We lived off East Street on Odle Corner directly behind the Discount Drug Store across from the Dorsett Department store. At five years old, I remember going into the store with my mom or sometimes an older kid from the yard. They had comic books, coloring books, pretty ribbons for my hair, and lots of candy too. Every time I was given money for a chore or errand, I would walk over to the store. I mostly bought comic books or crossword puzzles for myself and ...
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I can vividly remember one of the first places we lived in Nassau. We lived off East Street on Odle Corner directly behind the Discount Drug Store across from the Dorsett Department store. At five years old, I remember going into the store with my mom or sometimes an older kid from the yard. They had comic books, coloring books, pretty ribbons for my hair, and lots of candy too. Every time I was given money for a chore or errand, I would walk over to the store. I mostly bought comic books or crossword puzzles for myself and coloring books for my siblings. However, when I turned six years old, my mom would send me to the corner store much more frequently, and I was sent alone. I didn't mind; though, I loved to go. Most times, I would lose track of time reading comic books; my favorite was the Archie comic! I read every series. I loved coloring books, the thicker, the better, not to color, but to trace and draw, my sister Mimi did the coloring. In the beginning, I used to trace the outlines in the coloring book; I got good at it. So, through practice, I perfected my coloring and realized that I no longer needed to trace the images because I could draw what I saw to the point of recreating my own illustration. Eventually, I discovered that I could draw objects in the room and surroundings and added my own touch. These were probably my best childhood days. I remember running around our yard playing under the big Tamarind Tree that I enjoyed sitting under to read and draw. There were lots of fruit trees in the yard. The yard was a combination of Bahamians and Haitians, living as one big family. My mom's sister, also known as my aunt Priscilla, later moved in with us from Haiti, then she later met someone and moved into the house next door. My mom's boyfriend Nelson always had family coming in from Haiti. In order to migrate to the United States, this was a constant occurrence. They came through, stayed for a little while, and later moved on to The States. We lived in a big yard that always seemed busy, breakfast cooking, women washing, kids being bathed and mothers scolding. Sometimes too busy. The house was always filled with people, and our yard was always filled with people. The Big Tamarind tree was the focal and center of the yard for children and adult's entertainment, to washing clothes (handwashing in metallic tubs and washing boards), food prepping, to hair braiding. The ladies were always cooking for some Celebration.
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