Selfless octogenarian spreads love in St Mary
Published:Saturday | October 1, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Christopher Serju, Gleaner Writer
PORT MARIA, St Mary
IN 1992, Estriana 'Miss Essie' Thompson of St Mary was one of five people presented with the Governor General's Achievement Award for the county of Middlesex in recognition of their humanitarian efforts.
It was a truly fitting honour for this unsung heroine, who has spent a lifetime helping others. On a recent visit to Port Maria, The Gleaner caught up with Miss Essie behind the cash register of her business place at the intersection of Stennett, Main and Warner streets.
The 86-year-old was her usual sprightly self, chatting with customers as she directed operations in the restaurant that bears her name, Essie's Faith. The building sits at the spot where, many years ago, 'Doc' Tomlinson successfully conducted business as a chemist, a precursor to the modern-day pharmacist.
The passage of time may have slowed Miss Essie a little, but it hasn't taken edge off her charm, wit, memory or compassion for others. Street people are among those who benefit from her generosity and, while she is aware that there are some people who might be inclined to abuse her kindness, she does not allow that to stop her from giving.
"You have to love people. I grow with my parents that way. They always have a pot of food and anybody passing or anybody sick, they always give me food in the shet pan to carry and give them. So you grow up with that and you just continue loving people, but the whole thing is love," she said.
"A don't have a problem," she responds with a smile when asked about her health before going into the reasons for her longevity.
Special love for people
"Living the right way. Love people. You love you church, you love God so you go to church. You can't say you love God and you don't go to church," she points out.
A newspaper vendor takes the opportunity to rest, sitting around a table, while nearby a young man is sitting, books spread across the table he has for himself, as he studies. None of them is buying anything, but the owner seems not to realise or care, as she chats with the young woman.
"Mi go a Greece, mi go a Rome, mi go pon Jesus' grave? What more mi could a want? Jamaica a the best place," Thompson shares with her younger companion.
Ambling over to where I am eating, noting with pride that I have cleared my plate, she interprets this to mean that I enjoyed my meal of curried goat and rice.
A successful businesswoman who has long been a household name in St Mary, this octogenarian is clearly at ease with herself, seemingly oblivious to the high regard in which she is held throughout the parish. She still works, not out of need but more out of habit; hard work has been a constant companion since childhood.
Generation loses way
Born in Heywood, St Catherine, she has lived in St Mary since age four, and recalls carrying bananas as a child. By age 15, she was a hairdresser, using a 'straightening' comb to press women's hair but, at between 20 and 30 shillings a do, this profession wasn't cutting it for the teenager. Still, she stuck with it until 1962 before leaving for the United States where she spent six months.
Despite the economic hardships of the day, the woman who operated Essie's Drive In, a restaurant and nightclub in Trinity, before relocating to the town centre on property acquired in 1986, thinks the current generation has lost its way. Parents are to blame, she says.
"Plenty different. There was more manners. Young people don't care what they do," Thompson says, comparing then and now. I was passing the library and see a schoolgirl in her uniform and a man was holding her down, but she was enjoying herself. If the parents grow them the right way, if they are living the right life, then the children are supposed to follow. My assessment is based on how I grow because I still have the traits which were instilled in me as a child," she added.