It was in the 1970’s that Ginger first became a part of our lives. He came to live with the family near Mahdia, a tiny town in the interior of Guyana. A gift from a school friend in the city, we thought that perhaps he might be a perfect foil for a yawari-type rodent that often slunk into our residence from “the bush” and stole our rations. They were both the same size and therefore we thought that at the very least, Ginger’s presence would scare off the rodent.
The first meeting was a no-match contest. It also happened to be the last. We were home one evening when we saw the rodent enter the home through the space between roof and wall, run down a support beam and head straight for the box of rations. Ginger, unbeknown to the rodent, was heading in the same general direction. They met at the corner of the box and they both jumped eighteen inches into the air. Their abject surprise was so great that each sped back in the direction whence he came – the rodent up the wall and out the opening; Ginger, the bedroom and under the bed.
That was the last evening we saw the rodent and we never had damaged groceries after that. As for Ginger, it took some coaxing to get him to leave his refuge under the bed. When I returned to school and the city, I took him with me and he became a suburbs cat (but that is another story).
Ginger, the “lady-killer”, was a golden, lion-cub looking tom with a pleasant personality ninety-nine percent of the time he was a part of the family.
About Me
- Ingrid
- I was born in the former British colony of Guyana, South America. I became a forensic toxicologist after graduating with a BSc from the University of Guyana. My “excellent adventures” during this period are recorded in the autobiographical book “HerStory”. My family immigrated to the United States in 1989 and lived for six years in Brooklyn, New York. During that time, I worked in a clinical laboratory as a technologist and successfully studied for the Master of Science in Forensic Science degree at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. I continued to work as a clinical laboratory professional and improved my management credentials by studying for the MBA degree at Pace University. I discovered my writing skills quite by accident after a life-changing experience which followed a job interview I had not sought. The experience led to the writing of my memoir which was first published by BookSurge. “HerStory” had moderate success among the Guyanese community with reviews such as “Gal e prappa good. Me siddown and me read am and me na git up til e done”.
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