By:Curtis Morton
I respect the older persons within our community. As a matter of fact, as indoctrinated by my parental upbringing and my later in depth study of God’s word, I respect ALL PEOPLE. Now ALL PEOPLE may not respect me, but that is neither here nor there. I know what I am supposed to do and I do it to the best of my ability, by God’s grace.
However, my respect for older persons will not prevent me from having a good laugh with them or at their expense.
On Thursday 15th October, the first ever seniors’ fun and action sports day was held at the ET Willet Park. The seniors participated in fun events which included: walking races; 25 meters ‘sprint’; tape ball throw; thread the roll; dress up race; lime and spoon and even a relay.
Well I newa!
Now if you missed the event, describing it to you, won’t even serve to suffice. You just had to be there.
You would have missed Sister Mary falling down as she neared the finish line and attempting to get back to her feet at least three times and failing to do so but refusing to give up, literally crawled to the finish line.
You would have missed Sister Annie and Sister Gwenneth who also fell during separate races and both of them got up and ran towards the finish line to secure second places.
You would have missed Sister Jeffers who is 95 years old and blind to go with it but insisted that she not only wanted to ‘witness’ the event but also wanted to participate. So she was given her ‘ten minutes’ and she excited the crowd with her 25 meters ‘run’ being guided by a rope and then an exhibition of dancing and gymnastics which included bending and touching her toes, multiple times.
You would have missed Sister Ionie in the dress up race and as she pulled the shirt over her head and ran towards the finish line, her whole wig fell off!
Well I newa!
You would have missed star of the show, Auntie Flo who was placed third in her dress up race and staged an immediate one woman public protest. She insisted that those who placed in front of her, started to run, while pulling on their shirts, while she stood at the starter’s line, put on her shirt and then raced to the finish line. Guess what? Her appeal was upheld and she was given the gold medal and later strutted around the Park, almost as if she was ready to sign autographs.
You think our seniors easy?
Then, there was endless humour coming from the lips of the trio of commentators in Rudy Browne; Eric Evelyn and Roger Fyfield. Ah mean dem boys chat some trupitniss!
You would have missed centenarian Dovie Elliot who was saluted in the crowd and even given a medal for her presence at the prestigious event.
You would have missed Premier Amory taking part in the 25 meters walking race, getting the gold but pulling up slightly at the finish line.
You would have missed Eric Evelyn’s spectacular fall, as he was laughing so hard that his chair broke and he fell to the ground.
Ah mean you would have missed probably half of your life and no video replays could bring back the feeling of what transpired live at the ETW on that day.
I had a good laugh and the older persons remain my very good friends.
I just hope that when I get to their age that I can be as lively and as entertaining as they are today.
That’s the way I see it. How do you see it?