Son dreaded first Christmas without mama

Wednesday, December 25, was a day that Paul Burke wanted to come and disappear as soon as possible.

For the first time, he spent it without his mother, Norma Burke Daley, lovingly called ‘Icy’, who died earlier this year.

Recalling his last moments with the woman who nurtured him and was his best friend, he said that when she took ill, he never thought it would lead to her grave.

With Christmas looming last week, he said he could not help but feel a deep sense of sadness as he reflected on what was an annual routine for him.

“It is hard. Honestly, every time I think of the holidays without her, it just makes me sad. Christmas Day she knows I would be coming to visit her at the family home in Elliott, St Mary ,and she would call my phone ever so often to find out if I would soon be there,” he said, sharing that sometimes he hadn’t even left his Clarendon home yet.

Burke said part of that ritual for him was buying her things he knew she enjoyed and watching the pleasure on her face when he presented them.

“It is the saddest Christmas in my life. This year, to tell you the truth, I don’t know what I am going to do,” he sighed.

NO APPETITE

Burke said he is not lacking in invitations for Christmas dinner. However, he said he would not be attending any as he has no­ ­appetite for food.

Burke, who has a sister still living in the community he hails from, said he knows she would welcome him spending the day with her, giving them the chance to reminisce on fun stuff about their mother, but the thought of seeing his mother’s grave is a deterrent.

“I can’t manage it. It is still too fresh. I remember when I used to visit her and she would come into my room to lie beside me, and some of the times, the two of us would chat until we both fell asleep,” he said of the woman who doted on him.

On the lighter side, Burke found something to smile about as he recalls an incident where his mother cooked a delicious meal of stewed pork and rice and peas.

His stepfather’s good friend, who didn’t eat the meat, visited and his mother forgot and served them dinner.

After they both enjoyed the meal, his mother, who remembered too late, casually asked if he was now eating pork.

“With a look of horror on his face, he asked if she had fed him pork. My mother laughed so hard,” he said, a hint of laughter creeping through in his voice.