Rotary Eclub- Butterfly StoryBook Participant
Age: 8 years old
Ruby Labega School
Saint Martin, French West Indies
KINDNESS MATTERS
Innis Brandaen
This story is dedicated to my great grandmother Dorothee Cyrille Laurence-Halley affectionately known by all as Ms. Tee Tee. She gave of herself and never expected anything in return.
Long ago in the tiny fishing village of Grand Case, St. Martin, there lived a very special lady who everyone knew as Ms. Tee Tee. She and her husband Nello were from humble beginnings and knew how hard life could be. Ms. Tee Tee was a shop owner selling groceries and her husband Nello was a farmer who raised goats, sheep, chickens and milk cows.
Every morning at 4:00am Ms. Tee Tee and Nello would begin their day with baking fresh bread and milking the cows. The scent of Ms. Tee Tee’s fresh bread would wake up the village as everyone loved her delicious bread. But many villagers did not always have money to buy her bread to eat and Ms Tee Tee knew this all too well.
One day, a little boy named Johnny, kept walking up and down in front of Ms. Tee Tee’s shop. “Johnny boy,” said Ms. Tee Tee, “come here!” Johnny slowly walked into the shop towards Ms. Tee Tee with his head hanging low. As she watched him come in, Ms. Tee Tee could not help but to notice that Johnny was wearing dirty clothes and had no shoes on his feet.
Tee Tee asked: “Johnny boy, where is your mother?” But Johnny did not answer. Wiping Johnny’s face, Ms. Tee Tee asked him about his mother again and this time, Johnny began to cry. “What’s the matter Johnny boy, why are you crying?”
Johnny replied: “I am hungry and we have nothing to eat at home.” Ms. Tee Tee immediately took some fresh baked bread and some whipped butter and gave it to Johnny to eat. Johnny ate the bread quickly and by the time he was finished, Ms. Tee Tee handed him a cup of bush tea.
After the meal, Johnny was feeling better and Ms. Tee Tee handed him a handful of pear drops which made Jonny smile from ear to ear. Then Johnny told Ms. Tee Tee that his mother had no money and they had no food at home. This made Ms. Tee Tee and Nello sad.
They packed a basket with fresh bread, fresh milk, sugar, butter, corned beef, salt beef, salt fish and cornmeal and told Johnny to take the basket straight to his mother.
Johnny quickly jumped to his feet and took the basket from Ms. Tee Tee and ran out the door with the basket on his head. Nello shouted: “Don’t run, you will spill the milk!” But Johnny was long gone up the sandy road.
A few days later, Johnny’s mother passed by Ms. Tee Tee’s shop to thank her for her kindness and generosity. Ms. Tee Tee shook her head and said: “no need for thanks, I did it out of the kindness of my heart.” Ms. Tee Tee and Johnny’s mother had a long chat.
Ms. Tee Tee explained to her that they were not always fortunate to have in abundance as Nello came from a very poor single mother with five children. He knew all too well what it felt like to have nothing to eat. But he too received an act of kindness when his family was in need and knew the difference it made. And with that, Nello promised himself to always help those in need.
As Johnny’s mother was leaving, she promised to repay Ms. Tee Tee for her groceries that she had sent with Johnny. Ms. Tee Tee said: “the only repayment I ask of you is that you pass on the kindness to someone else in need.” Johnny’s Mother shook her head and promised as she left with tears in her eyes.
Over the years, Ms. Tee Tee and Nello touched many lives with kindness as they did for Johnny and his mother that till today, the old people of Grand Case, especially Johnny, still talk about their kindness.
In 1974, Ms. Tee Tee passed away suddenly. It was one of the saddest days in Grand Case. Many villagers came to the shop to see if it was true. There was no fresh bread baking and Nello was sad. The entire village of Grand Case and beyond came to mourn and bid farewell to the kindest lady of the village. Her kindness still flows in the village of Grand Case.