My mother was a doctor. She passed away. My memories of her.

When I was growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, every elderly woman/man was a doctor… I always listened to my mother when she was conversing with our neighbor. I had to make sure my mother did not see me if I wanted to listen in on her conversations. If she caught me, those green eyes would look at me angrily and then she would say, “The words from my mouth have no color/colour! Go from here! Ah go deal with you later!”

I would walk away as fast as I could, but I would find a spot where I could hear the conversation.

One morning our neighbor was telling her that she was going to the doctor because she was having; headaches, blurred vision and dizziness.

“Girl you don’t have to go to the doctor for that… You have high blood pressure. Cut down on salt.”

Our neighbor said that she did cut down on salt but it did not help... Her head still hurts and she had blurred vision. .

“Get some Bois Canon –Bwah-kah-no leaves boil them and drink a cup of it for nine days… Tell me how you feel after.”

The neighbor turned back and went under the Bwah-kah-no tree and she picked up some leaves… Two days after, she started drinking it she told my mother that she was feeling better than ever...