Monates Doricent

         Monates Doricent was born on February 19, 1919 in a little town called Arniquet to Montes Doricent and Seizemela Buisson. I’m confident he would say is his greatest achievement was being    married to my beautiful Grandmother Immaculee Valentin. They spent 70 amazing years together.    Together they had 9 children, 4 of them which are no longer with us but just like him they’re still in our hearts. Altogether they have 30 Grand Children and 11 Great Grand Children. I also can’t forget to mention the tons of nieces, nephews and cousins that he loved so much.

        My Grandparents were very determined to raise their family with moral values, respect, honesty, patience, independence, confidence, courage and hard work. When I listen to my Father, my Aunts and Uncle I can clearly see what their parents instilled in them. They come from humble beginnings and they’ve endured many difficult moments in life. The strength and determination they learned from their Father is what pushed each of them to reach their own levels of success.

          As well as being an incredible Father. Husband and Grand Father he was also a Tailor and a Farmer. He enjoyed listening to the news, music, interacting with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He had no passion for politics. He was very private, courageous, independent, strong, hardworking, religious and passionate about education. He worked especially hard to make sure all   children attended school and become successful.

         He was a simple man that was very grateful for everything he had. He valued life and his family over everything. I think back to the one of the times I went back to Arniquet. When we arrived at the house I met everyone except for my grandfather. My mother told me that the man chopping down the tree with machete was my grandfather. I thought for now it was a good idea to keep my distance. I decided to walk outside and stood next to a tree. All of sudden a coconut fell about 2 feet away from me. I looked up and there he was about 20 feet in the tree with the same machete. Well if you remember me when I was a kid it’s safe to assume that I ran inside and didn’t say anything to anybody.

       The next day we went to the river to get cleaned up. Me being from NY I thought this was the  craziest thing ever but I had no other choice. So reluctantly I got into the water. Five minutes into it I decided to make the best of it. Ten minutes later I see this man crossing the river with a Machete and a horse. At that point I said to myself well it’s time to get out of the water.

        Later that night I noticed that he never sat at the table when everyone else was eating. I was     wondering if all he did was work? So, I waited for him and waited and waited. Everyone ate dinner but he still worked. Then he decided to come to the table. I looked at him from around the corner hiding so he won’t see me but he did. As soon as he began to eat he called me over. I looked for the machete first and didn’t see it so I felt safe to come over. He pulled a chair next to him and started to feed me from his plate.

       This memory has stuck with me because I’ve seen this moment play back so many times in my life. My Father did the same with me and my sons when they were the same age as I was with my        grandfather. My Uncle Paul has even done the same thing with my boys as well.  It didn’t matter how long he worked or how hungry he maybe he would share his meal with his family without a second thought. This is the type of man he was and the type of family he created. Speaking of the family he created now I know why my Father likes doing yard work! Just to let you guys know sometimes he uses a machete too.

         I leave you today by saying Family is everything. In his memory lets continue to uplift, love and support each other. Let’s open up to each other without judgement and lets use his life as an example of what’s really important. God Bless and  I love You All.

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