Hartley Neita

The years pass. The hair on one's head becomes grey and then white, or disappears. One's face becomes creased with more and more wrinkles, and it seems there are more occasions to celebrate life and living with family and friends.

At first, these celebrations are the birthdays of one's children, or the children of relatives and friends. Then, there are the celebrations for christenings and confirmations, prize-giving functions and, ultimately, their graduations.

Time finally comes when the length of marital togetherness becomes cause for celebrations. Then, the children decide they want to praise their parents by celebrating their anniversaries, and on it goes.

Three weeks ago, two of my nieces living in Florida decided to celebrate their parents' 50th wedding anniversary. They tried - in vain - to keep it a secret from them, but little slip-ups gave clues to what they were planning. The only thing their parents never discovered was that they had asked me to join them.

You see, my brother knew that I had given up on travelling. Worse, was that travelling to the United States since their 9/11 was a no-no for me. Anyhow, they pleaded and, because I am unable to respond negatively to the blandishments of women, I decided to go.

Getting new passport

The first problem was I could not find my passport. I searched shelves, drawers, folders, pouches and every-where it could possibly have been until finally it surfaced.

It was still up to date, but my travel agent told me I had to get a new one. You see, my Minister of Finance who is becoming a genius at raising funds without taxation, in collaboration with the Minister of National Security, had decided that all passports had to be changed.

So, I had to go through the process of getting a certified copy of my birth certificate -at a cost, of course. Waiting at the Registrar General's Office was grief, but my certificate was delivered to my home two days later. And, by the way, it looks good.

My travel agent got my passport in seven days, and I was off to Fort Lauderdale the following day. To say my brother and his wife were surprised is an understatement.

They and their children's new families treated me like royalty. Chinese food, and all.

Celebrating life

The anniversary celebration saw some 80 Jamaicans from as far away as New York reminiscing 50 and more years of companionship.

Friends, such as Gladstone Bonnick, C.T. Brown and Keith Roach, rolled back the years of time. The following week the celebrations were for my longest-living friend, Lauris Goldson, who I have known since I was four years old. Once again, there were friends of years ranging from 20 to 60.

One of my grandsons once corrected me when I said that God is great.

He is not, he said. God is very good. To give us life is wonderful. To celebrate it is great.