My heart was racing. I clutched my seven-week-old baby and gripped his daddy’s arm. He was amused but reassuring. What was this? The trees were right outside my window! I could touch them, it seemed. And’s there’s a river! Oh my gosh are we going down? Are we flying sideways?
Suddenly, there it was, a runway and thankfully we were soon on solid ground. That was my arrival at Dominica’s Melville Hall Airport two decades ago. On the long winding forested ride to Roseau I kept wondering out loud, “When are we going to see people?” It was the Dominica I had instantly fallen in love with five years earlier. (I had used Canefield Airport then).
The Dominica I would get to know and call home for the next few years. It was the Dominica I would not forget.
But Dominica is so much more than the natural beauty that moves me; much more than the mountains and valleys, more than the rivers and waterfalls; more than the lakes, fresh and boiling; more than the food, the music and everybody dancing. Dominica’s greatest asset is its people, a happy people, a people who love all things Dominica; a people proud of their culture; a people who love all that make them Dominican.
I love the people of Dominica, but among those people have been my own people, the Jollys! They included my son’s father, grandparents, uncles, aunt and their extensions, not excluding the Jollys’ Pharmacy staff.
The first family member I would meet in 1996 was a 13-year-old bookworm named Lisa. While she was the happy baby of the family, Lisa was already a serious intellectual, who loved a debate. Devoid of a hint of shyness she was intelligent, confident and composed beyond her years. Precocious too! “Do you play any sports?” I had asked at our first meeting, looking for common ground. “No, she smiled sweetly, “I’m all brain.” That still gives me a chuckle. I had met my little sister whom I quickly learned was the apple of her father’s eye.
Then I met him; the great patriarch of the family, Anderson Jolly, the original. The Anderson whose name my son and his father bear. I had been assured he was a kind, warm and gentle human being, but that had been understated. It had to be, because Pops, as I came to call him, was a personable man. What he was to you was unique to you; and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone describing a personal relationship with Mr. Jolly as anything but positive. I was especially blessed because for the next 20 years he would be a bright light in the life of my son, his first grandson and would be no less than a father to me. Mr. Jolly valued above all, the bond of family. He watered his own with his time and his tenderness. Family river picnics, Sundays at Castaways with his sons… he loved the water!
As my son Andy grapples with the loss of the man he referred to as his “favorite human”, my tears are for him, for his great loss. “Pops was supposed to be immortal, Mom”. He will always be alive in your heart, I tell him, “And this mortal shall put on immortality”. My tears are for his wife Fatima, his sons Addison, Andy, Trevor and Orrin, and for his daughter Lisa. My tears are for his grandchildren who didn’t get enough of him.
To his family, Mr Jolly’s spirit was one too humble, too vibrant, too larger-than-life to be dampened. The sudden realization that his body was under attack would not easily sink in. But the Jolly family rallied around Pops. What he had poured into his family over the years, with him stricken, all hands rushed on deck committed to righting the ship that had long steadied the family.
All hands yes, but it was the former little girl celebrated in the Jollys’ BabyLis products, now Dr. Lisa Jolly, whose commitment to her dad was immeasurable! She shelved everything to give him 100 percent. During my visits I saw the harvest of the love and tenderness with which Mr. Jolly had nurtured his daughter. The bond was extraordinary! She could read his every move, detect what he himself remarked he didn’t realize.
Wordless, nuanced, a hug, a hand, a touch, a smile, a laugh, a meal…a daughter was giving back the deep love and attention she had received. As he had been to all his children, so they were to him at this challenging time. It was a privilege to be a witness, despite the underlying sad reality.
I’m not looking forward to landing at Melville Hall again soon. Exactly 20 years since that first landing, the trees just outside my window won’t frighten me, the feeling of flying sideways won’t be there. My thoughts will distract me. I will be thinking of the great man it’s been a joy to know and love. I will be thinking of my son who has lost his best friend. I will be remembering the jolliest of times; the frolicking at Layou River, playing cricket at Mero Beach and Pop’s utter elation when he clean-bowled me.
I will recall how much fellow-daughter-in law Makeba and I looked forward to Pops stopping for Bakes and Vitamalt at the little shop on the way home. I will flashback to us dancing to Swinging Stars at Fort Young or Springfield at Christmas time. I will smile remembering how he would confiscate my glass of rum punch when he thought I’d had enough. I will hear his infectious laugh. My eyes will well up and overflow as they’re doing now.
I’m not sure I am ready to say goodbye to Pops; but I know I must. I’m grateful for having had him for so many years, though they weren’t enough.
The pain is immense losing one who embodied so much to so many. It has dawned on me that it was he who gave me, he who showed me, indeed he who epitomized the best of Dominica. I was blessed. I won’t forget. I would be forever grateful. I owe him no less than a Jolly goodbye.
May you rest in peace, Popsie, till we meet in glory.
RIP Mr Jolly strength to the family. THANKS for the shillig oil, iodex, the nerve and bone and all the good stuff we bought from you. We travel far away to resell the goods to earn a living thankyou very much for your kindness.
Indeed a wonderful tribute Janelle to a man I have grown to love and respect myself. We will all miss him. but his selfless legacy lives on in our hearts and minds. Again I extend condolences to the family. May God strengthen you all in this time of grief.
Mr Jolly was a great son of Dominica may he rest in peace.
I won’t forget the sound of your voice..your smile or your stern look..I’m not an employee but I basically grew up at jolly’s because my mom works there for years. Mr. Jolly always greeted me.. forever friendly and I always respected him..I will miss entering jollys and getting at least a glimpse of you. R.I.p Mr Jolly
This is an excellent Tribute. Everyone will agree that it is a suitable one for him who was so well-loved and kind.
As the words of a song, “Only those who have loved and lost could know how a heart can cry.”
To the entire family and extended family of Andy, on behalf of my family and I we send our heartfelt sympathy to each one of you.
May you find solace and peace that, throughout the years, you spent some precious, cherished moments with your beloved Father, Father-In-Law, Grand Father.
Time passes and heals but the memories of him will always linger on. This is the joy of knowing him as also a Great Person.
God bless you!
Rest in peace. Andy! God bless your soul!
Well done, Janelle, a fitting tribute to a man whom I have known all my life. A man who treated me like a brother who was born to his aunt. I remember the days at Charles Drug Center where he worked so hard to achieved what he ultimately attained. I was there as his evening cashier and on Saturdays and Sundays too; he worked.
I remember the man who gave me my first art exhibition at Charles Drug Center in 1976. I was thrilled when, on the first day of my show, he sold three paintings to Mr. Royston Ellis, which lit up my world and and inspired me to continue painting to this day. It was shortly after Pablo Picasso died in 1973 that he nicknamed me, Pablo Picasso, a name by which he called me up until the last time we met, here in NYC. He always kept one of my paintings in the public eye, visible at the Pharmacy so that all who saw it would be enamored of it. Many people offered to buy it, but he would not sell it. I will surely miss this man, my dear cousin, Mr. Anderson A Jolly.
oh wow may you RIP
Such beautiful words from a daughter in law. So very powerful – I am in tears now.
I’m in tears reading this. RIP Mr. Jolly. Such a humble man!
This is so wonderful.. One good day there will be no more death. Stay strong Jolly`s family
Wow… Great tribute, which he deserves!! RIP Mr. Jolly, you fought the fight, you won the race…
This brought tears to my eyes as an employee of mr Jolly for the past 11 years I must say we have lost a great boss .Don’t think it has sunk in yet tht he has really gone walking in to work every day is so depressing he has touched alot of lives one way or another his memories will leave on for ever …… love u sir jolls
Andy I haven’t seen you in many years. I remember you training us at a adulacent session in Marigot and I always see u as a replacement to ur dad. My sympathy goes out to U and ur family bro. Am not home so I can’t come to hug u AN say how much we remember u and appreciate you. Stay strong Jolly’s
Not being critical. Did you mean “adolescent?”
R I P dominica will miss
very moving tribute.
Lovely, touching tribute.
I am sure the entire family is proud of your well-chosen words which gave us a good snapshot of the
man affectionately referred to by so many of us, simply as “Jolly”
Perfectly penned….Mr. Jolly rest in perfect peace…indeed you are one of my greatest heroes.
Beautiful and touching tribute! Mr.Jolly was indeed a beautiful human being. May his warm and loving soul dwell in the house of the Lord, forever.
My eyes are sweating!