The Jamaican Lifestyle is filled with lots of old fashioned customs and colloquialisms which are still treasured in the modern world today. Most of these ancient ways were taught to me by my grandmother.

The most charming custom that I have memorialized in my mind was the coveted "Hope Chest".

The first time I heard Granny speak of a Hope Chest, was when I was at the tender age of fifteen. Initially the thought, made me think of pirates coming ashore with chests full of treasure.

However, in my mind that was as far as the fantasy went. What did pirates and treasure have to do with my life?

Granny began to explain, that the Hope Chest was one of the most endearing Jamaican customs. When a young girl reached mid teens, she was expected to start collecting items that suggested domesticity. It was her preparation to undertake her Independence or the role of a wife.

Therefore, on my fifteenth birthday, Granny began her hunt for the greatest household bargains. My Hope Chest was actually a rectangular wicker basket that became filled with all sorts of culinary and household delights, so by the time I came of age I would be ready to take on the world with all my nifty appliances.

My Hope Chest became the proverbial burro that was laden with all sorts of bric-a-brac.

Granny insisted that I have pots and pans, towels galore, bathroom accessories and tons of doilies to adorn my abode.

She would spend hours doing needlepoint just to ensure that all her granddaughters had a little "something" to remember her by.

Granny would say, "No man don't want any woman who just come into his life with her two long hands on her side, she has to have "her things". That way her husband has a little hope that she won't be a drain on him."

I looked at Granny intently as she continued directing me, "Granny, suppose he just has a little hut and when you get married you bring this big old trunk, isn't he going to think you are trying to takeover?"

"Better he thinks you're trying to take over, than when you cook your first meal in the house and him ask you for the knife and fork and you tell him there is none. He is going to wonder what kinda "flaw-flaw" woman him marry."

"And furthermore, if he thinks you are trying to takeover, then you married the wrong person. Most bachelors don't even spend the time to buy quality items when they are living on their own. Most of them come straight from their mother's houses and they are usually coddled and don't want to be bothered with anything domesticated."

"Sweetheart, this is why a Hope Chest is so important, you can collect unusual bedspreads, quilts, blankets and all your favorite household items. There's nothing like a woman adding her own touches to a dwelling. Without a woman's touch, the house would look like a tent at Up Park Camp."

When Granny implemented this plan of a Hope Chest, she was doing it under the auspices that her granddaughters' lives would all go according to plan, just like in the old days.

Playing the devil's advocate was my favorite pastime with Granny, so I turned to Granny and said, "Granny, what if Mr. Right never comes along until several years later, are there super duper moth balls that will preserve these things?"

"That's a good question dear, but all the same if you pack them properly with moth balls and camphor, you will still have your things, and when you get your first apartment, they will be a blessing to you.

You know what....?

As usual, my Granny was right, when I did decide to get my first apartment I had the things I needed without running around in a frenzy. Where most young girls my age were confused about what to purchase or what they needed, thanks to my Granny, years before, I had pre-planned for the day when I would fly away from the nest.

I have owned several Hope Chests since the first one that my Granny helped me stock, and each one had their own significance and worthiness in my life. Over the years, Hope Chests have been a symbol of preparation for an organized life. A Hope Chest is an extension of the Girl Guides, "Always Be Prepared".

It was Granny's way of preparing her granddaughters for being organized adults and responsible wives.

Granny would always emphasize, " No one wants a tattered ragamuffin running the Home Office."

"If the man of the house ask you to find a piece of paper and you have to take a trip around the world to find it. What makes you think he's going to trust you with his life and business? You must be joking, nobody with any common sense is going to give any responsibility to a scatter brain."

I must admit for a long time I believed the concept of the Hope Chest was just a reason for Granny to turn us into little pack rats. However, after all these years, I realize now, that the idea of creating a Hope Chest was a way of designing a life. It was the blueprint of how you wanted to live, and who, or what you wanted in your life.

A Hope Chest had very little to do with the things you actually acquired. Of course, during my years of collecting for my "Hope Chest", I have managed to become an overzealous bargain hunter and a connoisseur of clutter. Even Hope Chests have their drawbacks.

If only Granny had taught us to be the collector of houses and space, then we could collect Hope Chests till thy Kingdom Cometh.

The art of adorning one's Hope Chest has lead me to some interesting places, and every time I try to resist the urge to indulge in a sale. I could hear My Granny saying, "Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today, you see that dutch pot, you not going to find it anywhere less expensive. So just get it nuh!"

So while the registers are go "ka ching! ka ching!" and I'm contemplating Chotchkes Anonymous, somewhere in heaven my Granny is going, " Aren't you glad you bought what you needed now, instead of running around like a chicken without a head later?"

"One never knows, Mr Right could be just around the corner........."

If Granny is listening, my remark to her is, "Uh...Just one thing Granny....By now, he should have collected his own Hope Chest!"