If you ever marry a Jamaican, your family doubles.
Its Christmas every time you fly in!
You find yourself in Walmart
"well i'll be!"
Look at that dear, i bet your Brother would love to have that.
Hey, what's your mom's favorite color?
Purple, Mark, i told you before, purple"
Always take good care of the Mom-in-law
Yeah, baby, this queen size purple sheet and pillow case set will look nice in her new bedroom.
Now, to the toy section,
"Mark, you just want to go there and look for yourself"
Ok, ok, but the little guys all love cars and spinning things,
all kinds of crayons and paints too!"how old is your neice,
"ones 4 and the other 6",
What size shoe?
Soon, my wife is loading down the cart with things.
The little girl section just melts my heart.
My daughter is 24 now, but i raised her, by myself since she was 2.(ahh, the good old days)
I know my way around kids clothes.
So, i go back in time (in my mind) and find things that the little girls would need and want.
Berrets for hair, and scochies, combs, brushes, the works.
My sister, (the little ones mom)
is about 25.
Perfume, jeans pants, tops.
Hair shampoo, conditioner, more combs and brushes.
Then my main Bro-in-law, he's 30 something, loves cars too.
Well, to the auto-motive section for some of the cool stuff, steering wheel covers, auto compass, all sorts of things. knives, tools for his work shop.
I have enough room for all these gifts because:
I keep all my dirty clothes in Negril, my mother in law washes them, hangs them up to dry and packs them, awaiting my return.
Having relatives on a caribbean island that you love to go to is wonderful!
The only hard part is lying to customs about bringing any gifts or presents.
But, since i only have 1, maybe 2 suitcases, i appear to be just another tourist.
Eating a home cooked "jamaican" meal is nice too, I have a nice group of people to hang with when the beach or Westend get boring.Hangin out at the shop, watching people buying things, picking up the Patois.
It's like i have a front row seat in a new world!
Once there was this gangster looking dude, on the beach, it was obvious what he was.
He asked me "do you know a black woman"
I did not recognize him at first.
He then said "oh yeah, at Mama G house, that's where I saw you. Yeah, you married her daughter.
He turned around and told all the other guys
"look out for him, he's family"
This is how they treat Family in Negril.
