In 1944, my grandmother, Catherine “Katie” Charles Famous, died suddenly in her forties.

Her husband was left to care for their 10 children in the wake of her passing.

My grandfather, Charles “Charlie” Famous, spent most of his time tending to his fields of crops and livestock spread throughout Pembroke and Devonshire.

A teenage daughter, Millicent, took up the mantle of becoming the mother to her siblings, ensuring that they were clothed, fed and educated daily at Central School.

Day in and day out, from “can’t see in the morning till can’t see at night”, she spent all of her energy on them.

Every pound and shilling that she made went towards maintaining their household at the western entrance to Friswell’s Hill. So magnetic was her love that extended family, and at times most of Friswell’s Hill, became part of the household, eating out of her pots daily.

Over the past 70 years, she has seen her nine siblings marry and start their own families. She also went on to marry and has watched her biological children grow and start their own families.

Yet nowhere along the line has she stopped loving and caring for each and every one of the hundreds of us.

She’s still active. You can find her in her garden by 7am daily, watering her variety of flowers and trees, ever the caretaker. Friends and family hear from her regularly via inbox messages on Facebook.

I don’t recall her ever catching a bus; she drives herself around the entire island. If my memory serves me correctly, I can’t recall her missing a day of church either.

Through the grace of God she will celebrate her 90th birthday on Monday although she has such a youthful spirit, you would not think she is a day over 65.

I often wonder to myself, had she been a selfish individual, where would our family be at this point in time? When I hear the countless stories from my aunts and relatives about how this lady sacrificed in order to ensure that her siblings remained under one roof until they could afford to build their own houses, I know we owe her much. I recall the countless days and nights she spent cooking and cleaning for wealthy persons in Tucker’s Town to ensure that we at home had food to eat.

My uncle told me the story about how proud she was to be accepted into the Berkeley Institute yet giving it all up because it was a fee-paying school at the time and she had to choose between her education and ensuring that her siblings would be fed and clothed.

Hearing that, I then knew why she was so proud to see me graduate from Berkeley in 1986.

This Saturday, we will attend an event celebrating her nine decades on this Earth. Without a doubt, there will not be enough room in St Paul AME Church to accommodate everyone who has been graced with having her in their life. So today I dedicate my words to the woman who has always been there for everyone.

Thank you Millicent Brown, née Famous aka Aunt Millie, aka Nana, aka Big Nana, for everything that you have done for our entire family. God has surely blessed you.