GINA MORTIMER STORR

Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Although she is more than 70 years of age, my mother, the incredible Gloria Mortimer, is more active than many 40 – 60 year olds I know, me included! She is recently back from a trip to China and has also traveled to the Mediterranean, Europe and off course North America, including the US,  in recent years. Never missing a beat, she is always present early to many social events at home and abroad. Her energy and go- gettedness (is that a word) never ceases to amaze me. She is truly a “Super Hero” in my book!

My daughter shared with me how, not very long ago, she agreed to accompany my mother to an event and was making arrangements to drive her there, only to be told “I’ll drive my own car because you young people don’t know how to party, and go home too early for me!!” Read the rest of this entry »

As I shared in my post of March 10th where I paid tribute to a friend, when I lost my father to a traffic fatality five years ago today, I was always searching for something, anything, to help me get through another day. Into about the third year, surprisingly, that something came in the form a simple quote supposedly found on a headstone in Ireland:

“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal. Love leaves a memory, no one can steal”

When I came across this quote, it was as if it had been written for me as it confirmed my feeling that the heartache I was feeling, would never heal and that it was alright to feel that way. More importantly, it reminded me that the many cherished memories I had of my father, could never be taken away. From that moment on, I have been able to live with the heartache because the memories are like a balm that soothes.

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I am slowly getting back to being my “normal” self, after the somewhat sudden loss of one of my best and almost life long girlfriends. One day we were hanging out and squealing like the college girls we were more than 30 years ago and the next, she was lying in a coma and soon after that, I watched as she lay dying!

According to Wikipedia, one definition of friendship is:

“the cooperative and supportive relationship between two or more people. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, affection, and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis.”

After three weeks she came out of the coma and although she could not talk, her great writing skills let us communicate and we were definitely expecting to pick up where we left off, on out next Third Saturday get-together.

But, it was not to be.  Instead, she left us on Friday, February 19th, the day before our next scheduled 3rd Saturday outing and our next  get-together was when I said goodbye publicly  at her memorial service.

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Bahamian Jameel Lightbourne is creating waves with his awesome culinary skills!.

I have personally had Jameel’s Seagrape and Guava Cheesecakes and they are absolutely to die for! Made using locally grown seagrapes and guavas, the texture and flavor are like nothing you have tasted anywhere else!

If the rest of his cuisine is even remotely close in its tastiness, then I know he has a huge hit on his hands!

As a native Bahamian, I am always thrilled when I learn of any young Bahamian taking the initiative to dictate their future by venturing into the world of entrepreneurship.

Congratulations Jameel and all the best.

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BY SIR HILARY BECKLES

Sir Hilary Beckles

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES is in the process of conceiving how best to deliver a major conference on the theme Rethinking And Rebuilding Haiti.

I am very keen to provide an input into this exercise because for too long there has been a popular perception that somehow the Haitian nation-building project, launched on January 1, 1804, has failed on account of mismanagement, ineptitude, corruption.

Buried beneath the rubble of imperial propaganda, out of both Western Europe and the United States, is the evidence which shows that Haiti’s independence was defeated by an aggressive North-Atlantic alliance that could not imagine their world inhabited by a free regime of Africans as representatives of the newly emerging democracy.

The evidence is striking, especially in the context of France.

The Haitians fought for their freedom and won, as did the Americans fifty years earlier. The Americans declared their independence and crafted an extraordinary constitution that set out a clear message about the value of humanity and the right to freedom, justice, and liberty.

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Two of the most commonly accepted definitions of the word “resolution” when used in the term “New Year’s Resolution” are:

“finding a solution to a problem”

“a decision to do something or to behave in a certain manner”

This year, I am choosing to take both and turn them into action.

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Full Harvest Moon - Oct 1, 2009

As I was driving along the highway  this evening, a bright light above seem to be leading the way and once I was back at my house, I took this great shot of the Harvest Moon!  According to the Farmer’s Almanac, “this  is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October. “  How kewl that it occurred on the first day of the month!  Like all natural occurrences, (even when there is devastation) there is something significant  associated with it and the Harvest Moon is no exception.    The Almanac continues its description: “At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon. Usually the full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, it seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada Read the rest of this entry »

How will 2010 find your personal life?

If you don’t know, then now is the time to begin thinking about it and taking steps to ensure it finds it the way you want it to. Will you have met your goals for 2009? If not, why not? What are you goals for 2010?

Do not let another year end find you overwhelmed and unprepared for what the new y ear will bring. Especially if you hope to be ready for new opportunities!

Here are a few things you should be paying attention to now if you want to greet 2010 with a smile or, you can Read the rest of this entry »

I am a happy person, mostly satisfied with my life. On any given day, I can proclaim “I’m having a great week!”.

This week, however has been very special and on reflection, despite the state of my existence being one of genuine happiness, having my two favorite men around,  I am able to reaffirm what my cousin Shauna Bain-Smith loves to say: “ain’t family grand?” Read the rest of this entry »