Alexander Pottinger: Registered Nurse

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If Arthur Pottinger could have had his way, his favorite sister Daisy would have achieved her goal to become a registered nurse. She would have enrolled at the Kingston School of Nursing and have graduated with honors four years later. That was also Daisy's foremost goal in life. In fact, it was the family's greatest desire for Daisy the sixth child in a household of seven children. That was until Veda Pottinger left home for employment in Kingston the big city

Alexander Pottinger resided in Salem, a well-known coastal village in St Ann, rural Jamaica. He managed a fifty-acre property and each day he rode a fleet footed shiny black stallion Rosco, around the farm to supervise the workers. He and his wife Lavinia had seven children Arthur, …show more content…

He would regret leaving Daisy but farming was not for him. His passion was business, manufacturing and trading. He would provide for Daisy and ensure that she had the funds to achieve her goal. She was empathetic and nurturing, qualities that all nurses required. Their relationship patterned that of father and daughter, and she constantly trailed behind him, bouncing, skipping, and laughing, always happy. He had taught her to swim, fish and ride a horse and a bike. On Sundays Arthur took her to Sunday school at Salem Baptist Church, where he was a Deacon and where his dad 'Busha Potts' preached on alternate Sundays when the resident Pastor Davis visited other churches. Daisy might have been lost among the others, if Arthur had not taken a special interest in her. She responded in gratitude ostensibly to say thank you for your special interest in me. Thank you for reading stories to me and teaching me to read prior to my enrollment at Hoolbery primary school. I felt special because unlike the other beginners, I could …show more content…

One Sunday in February a notice on the church's bulletin board invited applications from able-bodied persons who wished to migrate to Espania for employment in the leather manufacturing industry. Arthur seized the opportunity to leave and he and Claude applied to migrate to Espania. Daisy loved the idea of a foreign country because of her vivid imagination, that conjured up pictures of beautiful places, people and things. Four months later on June 25, Arthur and Claude, Mr. Pottinger's two oldest sons bade goodbye to the family and took flight to Espania, and Caleb a farmhand replaced Arthur in the dairy. In Daisy's fertile imagination, the unknown Espania was a wonderful place full of possibilities. She cried a little and Arthur comforted her with the solemn promise that he would write to her often and shower her beautiful frilly dresses and shiny patent leather shoes from

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