Uncle Joseph's Funeral Homily
Uncle Joseph, who raised the author had what was pretty much a set speech on the occasion of a death in the family or among friends. Perhaps not always the same words exactly, but they were merely the support of a recurring theme:
“Death is a journey we embark on from the moment we are born. An hourglass is turned and the sand starts to slip in a different direction as soon as we emerge from our mother’s womb.”
Uncle Joseph Meet His Future Wife
The author describes the impact of the first time that her Uncle Joseph saw the woman he would marry: “the prettiest woman he’d come across in twenty-three years.”
“With her high cheekbones and pouty lips she looked like a calendar girl or carnival queen.”
Two Brides for Two Brothers…or Not
Uncle Joseph recalls that he wanted his brother—the author’s father—to marry his own wife’s sister. And why not: the sisters look so similar that they were almost identical. But though she was interested, the potential groom was not; a decision that Joseph took in stride, metaphorically alluding to the unstable lineage outlined in the Bible:
“It’s not as if your uncle and I were Cain and Abel and there was no one else in the world to marry.”
One Year, Two Storms
Storm imagery is a popular metaphor for writers. The author is lucky in the fact that a literal storm caused damage in the same year that the country face yet another in its long line of political upheavals. Luck here being a relative term, of course. The reference is to the removal of Aristide from power by a coup. For the second time.
“Tropical Storm Jeanne had caused relatively little damage in Bel Air. Instead, another kind of storm was brewing there.”
Marie Micheline
Marie Micheline was the daughter of a Cuban émigré to Haiti who becomes a central figure in the narrative. Her death became famous after being featured in an article published in Newsday in which the author wrote that she was
“a reflection of Haiti and its potential, a flicker of light frustrated in its attempt to shine.”
