Dear Editor,
Before the COVID-19, while sitting and having breakfast and as usual knocking heads with the guys, the topic of family came up. I mentioned the number of sisters and brothers in my family and automatically I got the usual comments. So, me being quick-witted, told them that God gave my parents all those children because He wanted to make sure that wisdom was shared all over the world. We were equal to Google.
I proceeded to let them know where all in the world the children and grandchildren of my parents are – Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Holland, St. Maarten, St. Martin, UK, USA. This started as a joke but when I sit and think of all the good things that parents of then instilled in their children, why not?
My parents always reminded us to respect everybody. Be the best of whatever you are. Do not let money define who you really are. Always stay positive, because when you do something good people will tell everybody they know, but when you do something wrong they will tell everybody. Forgiveness is not anybody’s desire, it is a biblical order.
What being a policeman taught me is that you would not be concerned about what people thought about you if you knew how seldom they did. Sad to say, we have not passed this kind of good upbringing down to our children, because we did not want our children to pass through what we went through. We deprived our children of the very disciplined upbringing that is urgently needed today. Do we realize that a parent’s look at you in those days is equal to a person threatening you with a gun nowadays? I know what it is to see one or two welts on my skin from the belt-beating that I got. And not me alone – thousands of us from then know what or who we have become. And I would challenge anyone to prove something wrong with my psyche.
Love is what is lacking. Quality time with your children. The child you show love today will be your salvation tomorrow.
Russell A. Simmons
