Every parent experiences moments of frantic at one time or another regarding the whereabouts of their child or children. Whether it is a school bus ride gone awry or children losing their way. Childhood has its way of creating panic within families.

When I was a little girl going to Prep School, my Granny Gheeta made sure she came to retrieve me after school. Before she took me home, she checked me from head to toe to make sure I had no cuts or bruises and that my school uniform was in the same condition as when I left the house. Granny Gheeta went through my Jungle Book Lunch box inspecting it, verifying that  I had eaten every morsel of lunch, and that none of my utensils were missing. Before we left the school grounds, Granny wanted a full account of my day and if anything I said raised an eyebrow with Granny, she would straighten it out right then and there, with either the Principal or the Teachers.

If Granny Gheeta was not able to get me from school, she would call my father and ask him to send two guards for me. She would then call the school and put them on alert that she was not retrieving me that day, and gave the names of the armed guards.

I must admit, that I was always a bit embarrassed by my Granny Gheeta and her overprotective ways. The fact that she always showed up at my Prep School in her Indian garb created so much excitement and curiosity. I often wished that I could run and hide to avoid her. However, Granny was too swift thinking for me to ever have eluded her, because she made sure she had all her bases covered.

Granny's inquisitions with the School's staff was always exasperating. She had to know if anyone was hired on the grounds recently, who my teachers were, and what field trips were being planned. "Granny Nosey Nellie Gheeta" ( I affectionately called her in my mind), became a gradual fixture on the school grounds, just to make sure everything was going alright. Granny made herself the honorary Gestapo whether the school liked it or not.

Her constant presence often made me the source of many clever quips at school. Whenever we went anywhere and they were large groups of Indians, everyone would call out to me, "Hey, Margaret, there goes your family looking out for you!" These remarks were usually followed by childish chuckles and a few attempts of trying to speak in Indian dialects.

Nevertheless, these stories never deterred Granny Gheeta from keeping in touch and checking in. As I grew older, I began waging a campaign for my Independence. After hammering away at Granny's strict ideologies, she finally acquiesced and allowed me to have more autonomy regarding my traveling arrangements. As Granny became busy with the other grandchildren,  she made a more permanent arrangement for the guards to retrieve me from school.

Life became interesting because I would often ask them to stop at some of my favorite places on the way home. They were usually coerced by my grandmother not to give in to my whims, but after presenting my own persuasive arguments, sometimes I was able to break their strict regiment.

However, on a chilly December afternoon, two security guards came to retrieve me, they were not the same guards that Granny or my father usually sent, so the school called to make sure everything was in order. The guards checked out to be alright, and their mission was to get me home as soon as possible. Apparently these guards were not too familiar with Kingston and we soon made a detour that took us to the outskirts of nowhere.

Although, I was versed in my address and directions of certain locations, I had no idea where we were. We drove around in circles for an hour or so. In those days there weren't any cell phones so it was difficult to get word to anyone. At first, I was calm, but when I realized that the two guards had no idea where they were going and that we were truly lost. I became very concerned, because dusk was slowly approaching. Apparently, we had veered off to an area outside of Barbican.

I knew that my Granny Gheeta would be worried and fuming, the thought of her patrolling up and down made me even more anxious. Finally, as we drove around in circles, I noticed there were small congregations of Indians standing on the corner of houses. I tapped on one of the guards shoulders and said, "Ask somebody in that group over there, I'm sure someone will know!"

Trained and skilled guards are usually very ambivalent to ask strangers for assistance. Their best recourse was to proceed to a Police Station. While we continued on the journey looking for a station, we saw a Police car whirring its siren behind us, and guess who was in the back of their car........? Granny Gheeta.

The police approached the car cautiously to make sure everything was okay. The guards explained what happened and their story appeared to be genuine to the Police. After they made sure the coast was clear, Granny Gheeta embarked from the vehicle with open arms exclaiming, "Where's my grandchild?".

"My goodness gracious, are you okay darling?"

"Yes, Granny, I am fine, we could have been home a long time ago. I told the guards to ask the people standing on the corner. They wouldn't."

Granny commented, "I know, they are trained not to. But it's alright, I called my goodfriend Mr. Rhambuttan and he is a "Lodge Man", before you know it, the word was out, so everybody was looking for you. Your grandfather knows every Police Officer from here to Oracabessa, so, it was only a matter of time."

"Well, Thank God Granny! This is one time I am glad you are very meddlesome!"

 Granny Gheeta smiled. That day may have been an innocent occurrence, however, it made my grandmother and my family more aware, how important it is to pay attention , and to always entrust important tasks to themselves.

Therefore, eventhough I was approaching my pre-teen years, Granny gladly resumed her role of retrieving me from school even when I had become a seasoned teenager.

Granny always said, "If you want a job done correctly, without any flaws, you have to do it yourself !"

Tags: Granny Questions "Where is My Grandchild?"