When I was a girl, the aunties were everything. They had the best outfits, told the best stories, gave the best presents. They also unleashed the worst punishment. They could have me in stitches one minute and then cut me down to dejected outcast with a stinging word. Jamaican aunties are unabashed truth talkers. And they know how to make a point, in fact they will make it five different ways to be clear. But each point is it’s own distinct ingredient peppered with their signature sass and served with the highest scorn. Malice was never the motivation. They were only ever prodding me to be and do my best. I knew it and that’s why I adored them, even the frustrating and maddening quirks were forgiven.
I am an aunty now and I have the same motivations as the ones that came before. I have nephews so much of our relationships is uncharted territory. There’s less cutting down and more cutting up. We’ll take jabs but always in the pursuit of a laugh. There are copious amounts of laughter. There is also discipline and correction but mostly laughter. But we’re also making the kind of indelible memories I cherish from my own youth. Creating this little clip with nephew #1 is one of the highlights of our time together in pandemic lockdown. Long after we’ve moved on to the next thing, this digital memento will remain. I will watch and remember the hours of our creative collaboration. These pixels are the aggregate of every moment our heads were leaned into the screen, his eyes in rapt concentration and mine flicking to him with pride and awe. But for right now it’s just a fun thing we made in honor of aunties and climate change.
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