By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 24, 2024 – When Carolyn Young Miller, a Bahamian friend who lives in New York, called me on Tuesday, June 4, and informed me that Joseph Taylor, my very good friend from our boyhood years growing up at Stanyard Creek, Andros, had died, a cascade of tears flowed freely and prevented me from continuing our discussion, so I told her that I would call her back later and abruptly ended the call.
Joe was several years older than I am, but he and my older brother, Simeon (Sugar B) Brown, who is now deceased, were around the same age and both were brotherly mentors to me as I engaged in my boyhood activities – helping me learn to ride a bicycle, learning how to catch crabs, harvesting grapes and cocoplums and perfecting my fishing skills, among other boyhood adventures.
I was one of seven grandchildren who grew up with my grandparents, Ben and Mabel Elliott at Stanyard Creek, and I had a well-deserved reputation as being a bad boy. Papa and Mama’s youngest daughter, the late Maria Elliott-Forbes, and the oldest of the grandchildren, the late Sylvia Elliott-Ross, were around the same age, and I actually grew up referring to my Cousin Sylvia as my Aunt Sylvia.
They were the discipline enforces when the younger grandchildren did something considered to be wrong, and I often found myself on the receiving end of their disciplinary decisions. So, I always appreciated those occasions when my brother Simeon and Joe included me in their ventures,
My family moved to Nassau when I was 10 years old, and Joe and I lost contact with each other. I was aware that he had moved to New York in his late teens, but it was not until many years later – I can’t recall the exact year, but it was I the mid-1990s after I had relocated to Washington, D.C. — that we saw each other again when I attended the funeral of a relative who lived in New York.
It was a wonderful “reunion”, but we didn’t keep in touch. However, about two years ago, Carolyn Young Miller, my friend in New York, gave him my phone number in D.C., and when Joe called and said in his booming voice, “Homeboy, this is Joe Taylor. How are you doing?” I was overjoyed.
We kept in constant contact since then. However, about six months ago, after I informed him that I am receiving medical treatment for a mobility problem that requires me to use a wheel chair or a walker to get around, he called me at least once a week to check on how I was doing. Whenever he called, I felt like getting up and doing some of my Saxons Junkanoo moves, but I am convinced that my dancing days are over. Nonetheless, frequently chatting with Joe and reminiscing about our exploits growing up in Stanyard Creek have certainly been cathartic for me.
The news of Joe’s death really hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks, and I have been shrouded by a blanket of grief ever since I received this debilitating, gut-wrenching sad news. Although death is inevitable, the loss a loved one is always painful. I am reminded of this fact during my telephone discussions with Joe’s daughter, Linda Taylor, who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, but is currently in New York helping to finalize details for his funeral. She is having a rough time accepting her father’s death, and her distress is reflected in her voice on the phone.
Linda wrote a very stirring tribute to her father that I published in BAHAMAS CHRONICLE two days ago, so did his niece, Loretta Butler-Turner, that was also published in BAHAMAS CHROICLE.
Funeral service for Joseph Taylor will be held on Saturday June 29, 2024 at 10 a.m. at: Gethsemane Garden Baptist Church, 223 East 7th Street, New York, NY
Viewing of the body is on Friday, June 28, at:George H Weldon Funeral Home, 343 E 116th St, New York, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.and at the church on Saturday, June 29, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
