Alma Merle Traylor

Solemnly, today we are gathered to pay our respects to Alma merle Traylor Born Alma Merle Bromfield November 9th, 1945 in the parish of Trelawny, district of Cowick Park in Jamaica, W.I. where she lived until she was in her mid-thirties before migrating to the USA. Where she lived and worked in the health-care field until her death. Sadly, Alma lost her battle with cancer on May 29th, 2020 in Conyers, GA Alma is survived by her four children; Paula, Andrew, Roaul and Dianne grand-children, Tocoya, Anaisha, Lamar and Deja; grand-children, Trey and Bryson; siblings: Norma, Mavis, Termie and Nora; nieces and nephews and friends who loved her and will miss her. Note: If you’re gathered here today, you are entitled to be righteously, sad, as this is an sad moment in our lives; however, if you commence to bawling and thus succumbed to such overwhelming sadness and grief to the point where you become broken. In Alma’s own words and spirit she would say; Lawd, wey uno a mek such a big deal ova, mi awright, tek care a unu self. You see my mother was a pillar of quiet strength and would not want to burden or sadden anyone even in death, as this was not how she lived and died. Alma was fiercely, private, and independent, Rest in Peace, Mother. And for those of you who did not quite understand and had difficulties in comprehending the slang, Jamaican Patois. Find someone here to translate it, as most Jamaicans, if not all of us in spite of all our book-learning or degrees we may hold, in trying times during our lives; we tend to draw to some extent on our native tongue as if to strengthen our resolve; Alma was no different and this moment is indeed sad and trying and we all will need to pull from whatever strength reserves we have, use those withdrawals to move forward and overcome. Believe you me, a wey mi Madda woulda want. To my family, uno might see uno self too American, too accomplished, too stoosh and too articulate to use this, but uno should never forget or never not be proud of our Jamaican heritage, even as we pull our strengths from them secretively. We must proudly, remember we are Jamaicans; or descendants of, Jamaicans, even if we live new lives abroad in foreign lands. “We must never forget our Jamaican lineage, We must never forget our past; even shallow roots define and grow strong knowing tree”