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First Lady of Jamaica-Lorna......-Observer
Lorna Golding More than just the prime minister's wife
Monday, September 17, 2007
LORNA GOLDING . I shared his [Bruce's] dream that he would someday be prime minister. (Photo: Michael Gordon)
SHE is seen by many as simply the wife of the Prime Minister, the woman at Bruce Golding's side when occasion requires. But Lorna Golding is that and then some. In official settings she is a lady - impeccably dressed, shoulders held high and walking with grace.
In the private settings of her St Andrew living room, she is relaxed - casually dressed in spaghetti strap summer top with ankle-length wrap skirt. This is where all woman learnt the true personality of the woman who has stood behind the one-week-old Prime Minister for 34 years, the mother who has been at his side all the way, enroute to his appointment to office.
all woman: You have been described as "charming and dignified", "lovely and serene"(communications professional Jean Lowrie Chin) in your behaviour during and even before the election campaign. How important is it for a woman to exude charm and dignity, even in the face of adversity?
Lorna Golding: (Big laugh) It is not easy for Jamaican women to maintain dignity and charm at all times because our country is very challenging especially for the women. But you learn to take it in stride. You've got to hold on to your dignity and hold on tight because even our own friends and colleagues will sometimes criticise us. But you have to rise above it at all times. They will make up stories about you, provoke you, all sorts of things. Sometimes our colleagues are our greatest critics. But you've just got to rise above it.
aw: Your family seems to be a model of love and unity, your children - Shereen, Steven and Ann-Merita - are ambitious and God seems to be the backbone of your household. What qualities did you instil as a mother, and what skills did you teach them, to make them what they are today?
LG: Oh dear! It has been something that I learnt from my mother, to train up a child in the way he should grow. My parents felt that children would be stable if you trained them right. It also comes from my values as a Seventh Day Adventist, from much prayer - pray together before meals and before leaving out, just asking for God's guidance in everything. They have been brought up in church too. Can't say that they all stuck to it, but I truly believe the family that prays together stays together.
I didn't pass on skills - I pass on some belt -and shoes and anything I could catch (laughs). Sherene (eldest) was easy to train. Since she was the eldest and easy to train the others followed. I physically stayed with them no matter what I was doing. I believe in parents staying very close to their children in those formative years. I would come home from work and the minute I was taking my shower, Sherene (in fact all of them) would come into the bathroom, sit on the bathroom floor on the mat and go over what her teacher said to her that day and the day's proceedings.
Even from then I started telling them that they didn't need to brag or boast, they must simply go to school and be very helpful to their teachers. That was something my mother passed on to me, even the picking up of chalk for your teacher. If you look out for your teacher your teacher would look out for you. Their grandparents were teachers, I taught too, and I really believe that you should take the training you get at home to school. You have to smooth out the rough behaviours at home no matter how poor or how rich you are. When they leave school they will take the training with them and doors will be opened for them without even asking.
aw: Where did you go to school?
LG: I completed school at New York Business Institute. After leaving college I spent time at the British and Africa Affairs and then worked at the United Kingdom and Supply delegation, a subsidiary of the British Consulate.
The Golding family, Stephen (top centre), Shereen(left) and Ann-Merita with parents Bruce and Lorna Golding; and at left, as a young family in this 1985 photo.
aw: I read somewhere that you worked for the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People). What was the experience like?
LG: I had a very interesting job at the NAACP. I was a junior administrative assistant to the executive chairman of the membership department, who was in charge of the entire membership of NAACP groups throughout the US. That prepared me for politics. I actually learnt how you got to the grassroots of American politics by registering every member that voted, mostly for the democrats. I assisted in overseeing that every member paid their dues every year which is what would entitle them to jobs and any other programmes that the government offered. Before I joined the NAACP I worked with the Sierra Leone Mission to the United Nations. That was my first job after I left New York Business Institute. That was in the days when John H Kerr was Sierra Leone's ambassador to Jamaica. Those years Mr Shearer was first foreign minister and then he became Prime Minister. And that is another experience I had that really prepared me for politics. At the time I didn't know the role Jamaica played in the liberation of Africa - of black people and the apartheid government. This was when I learnt about slavery after intimately coming into contact with it.
aw: You have participated in the 'Million Woman March' put on by the group Mothers in Crisis to help highlight the critical role of the mother in the Jamaican family. How important is it to you to work with women's groups, and to work in improving the image and values of Jamaica's women and mothers?
LG: There is no doubt that the Jamaican woman has worked very, very hard especially in family engineering. We were born to take up our position in life. There is no if, ands or buts that there is a serious place for us in the society to help to keep order, whether we are in our home, in the church in the school or in the community. It is a legacy handed down by the women of the Bible. We have traditionally worked hard, but there is always room for improvement, because different facets of life have been forced on us, all sorts of challenges as world order takes place, so we have to engineer ourselves in order to fit in.
Here I am, being the Prime Minister's wife, there have been challenges but here I am. It's funny, but (as a woman) I have always been preparing for Bruce and not myself.
INDEED, Lorna Golding and her three children have publicly attested to their love and support of their husband and father, and the public has seen a family that is very encouraging of the father's ambitions - ambitions he's had for most of his life.
"I have never ceased believing," Mrs Golding said when asked if she ever thought she would become the Prime Minister's wife. "I shared his dream that he would someday be Prime Minister. I have been very optimistic. I have been around politics since I have been married - 34 years now, and I have watched Bruce work so assiduously, so constructively and sincerely. He really never hesitated to tell me that his work was with the people and he was always saying that he wants to serve his country. I never let up believing he could do it."
aw: How did you meet your husband?
LG: We met at a wedding, where he was toasting the bridesmaid and extolling the virtues of the bridesmaid to the marriage. I was awed! He took that little thing and made such a photographic story of the job of a bridesmaid. He formed so many words around it. He made that little job seem so important, I was extremely impressed with the way he expressed himself. Then he visited my sister-in-law a few days after the wedding and I met him there, and six months after that it was history!
aw: What is it like being married to a politician and now the Prime Minister, a man who will always be busy.
LG: It has been exciting for me and you only get out of life what you put in. You get the sweet results if you put in sweet work. Life is naturally challenging but I don't have any defining moments that I am afraid of. Separate and apart from a politician, I married a real gentleman. Sometimes I really have to look a quarrel with him (laughs). The man has become the Prime Minister of the country, it has been his dream to serve, now he really has got service on his hand and I have to give him 101 per cent support - as I have always given, now I may have to give 102. If I am ever going to get depressed, I have exciting friends all over the world that I can visit - all over Africa - Nigeria, Sierra Leone, friends in Europe and right here in Jamaica.
aw: How have you dealt with the hurdles you had to overcome as his wife to be able to celebrate 34 years?
LG: Oh without even thinking, any hurdle you come up to you have to decide there and then whether you are going to cross it or if you are going to allow it to cross you. It is all a matter of giving and taking - simply giving and taking. And sometimes I think about how Bruce would think. I live for my family or maybe they live for me because they know I am a strict, disciplined person - hardly give but I take (laugh). Some positive thinking and some down to earth, moral and principled approach was how I dealt with my hurdles.
aw: Your advice to one of the main marital problems of cheating husbands?
LG: In a marriage you have to give a little and take plenty. If you suspect your partner of cheating, you first have to be sure because some men get their ego stroked by pretending to be having an affair, just to see how you would react because they want more attention. My mother would say, place some importance on yourself. Know your self worth as a wife. A lot of 'other women' don't recognise the power of a wife. But you have some wives too who need to revaluate their self-worth.
AT this point we are joined by a special houseguest, Wendy Williams-Reynolds, Mrs Golding's friend of 35 years. Both agreed that they have shared many a moment together - both good and bad. Now she is visiting to celebrate with Mrs Golding in her moment of triumph. Introductions out of the way the interview continued:
aw: What advice do you have for young couples on making marriage and family work?
LG: Young girls have to look at the life of their friends and their mothers and learn from their mistakes or successes. Nothing has really changed in 30 years even though they say we live in a global age, an IT age, but it is really what you put into the computer that you get back out. So you need to use your brain, you need to look at your partner. I'd tell young girls to check out the background of the man, look at the family - check the pedigree (laughs, I hope that doesn't offend anyone). Look at the African adage, a girl has to look at the tribe they are coming from. Look at the man good. Look if he is too sweet. Because he gives you a dozen roses each week it's not necessarily love. I really would love to involve myself in counselling young couples, which is one of my passions. Because I have a knack of looking at young men and telling if they are a 'tall handsome fast talking dude'.
aw: Read any good books lately? What's your favourite leisure activity?
LG: I am fascinated by religious books by Ellen G White. I like The Value in the Valley by Iyanla Vanzant and Jesus the CEO by Laurie Beth Jones. I read them over and over. My favourite leisure activity? How can you love to do anything around a politician? (laughs). What I love to do these days is go out and to buy a piece of art. And I love to go to art exhibitions and just view the art and interpret it and ask others what they think of it. I also love to counsel young girls about their lives.
aw: What are some of your bad qualities?
LG: I love to laugh!
"She has zero tolerance for persons who don't perform well," Reynolds chipped in. "She doesn't suffer fools gladly," they both laughed.
aw: You're always immaculately dressed, who's your favourite designer?
LG: Kenneth Edgar, one of my past students. He is now a local stylist. I also love Armani and Alberto Makali.
aw: Any fascination with shoes?
LG: (Laughs)
"Is the pope Catholic?" Reynolds asked.
(More laughs)
LG: My husband calls me Imelda Marcos when it comes to shoes. I really cannot give a figure as to the amount of shoes I own!
aw: Describe a typical Sunday
LG: 5:30 am I get up and walk around the neighbourhood or follow an exercise programme on Fit TV. A typical Sunday for me is one where Bruce makes breakfast. He likes Saltfish cooked up with tomatoes, onions and a little vineger. And I like liver and onion and he has learnt to make that even better than me now. Sometimes he would make Chinese dim sum, but nowadays he has gotten so busy ... but we are not letting him off on it. After that I read the newspaper and take care of my personal little stuff at home and send a few emails to my friends before lunch. Then it's relaxation followed by dinner and ice-cream and cake.
aw: What do you do in your 'me' time?
LG: I pray. Talk to God for grace, strength, courage - not just for me but my family, friends and Jamaica at large.
-husseyd@jamaicaobserver.com
Pernel Charles Sister Lazie.I truly admire and respect this Lady.
Monday, September 17, 2007
LORNA GOLDING . I shared his [Bruce's] dream that he would someday be prime minister. (Photo: Michael Gordon)
SHE is seen by many as simply the wife of the Prime Minister, the woman at Bruce Golding's side when occasion requires. But Lorna Golding is that and then some. In official settings she is a lady - impeccably dressed, shoulders held high and walking with grace.
In the private settings of her St Andrew living room, she is relaxed - casually dressed in spaghetti strap summer top with ankle-length wrap skirt. This is where all woman learnt the true personality of the woman who has stood behind the one-week-old Prime Minister for 34 years, the mother who has been at his side all the way, enroute to his appointment to office.
all woman: You have been described as "charming and dignified", "lovely and serene"(communications professional Jean Lowrie Chin) in your behaviour during and even before the election campaign. How important is it for a woman to exude charm and dignity, even in the face of adversity?
Lorna Golding: (Big laugh) It is not easy for Jamaican women to maintain dignity and charm at all times because our country is very challenging especially for the women. But you learn to take it in stride. You've got to hold on to your dignity and hold on tight because even our own friends and colleagues will sometimes criticise us. But you have to rise above it at all times. They will make up stories about you, provoke you, all sorts of things. Sometimes our colleagues are our greatest critics. But you've just got to rise above it.
aw: Your family seems to be a model of love and unity, your children - Shereen, Steven and Ann-Merita - are ambitious and God seems to be the backbone of your household. What qualities did you instil as a mother, and what skills did you teach them, to make them what they are today?
LG: Oh dear! It has been something that I learnt from my mother, to train up a child in the way he should grow. My parents felt that children would be stable if you trained them right. It also comes from my values as a Seventh Day Adventist, from much prayer - pray together before meals and before leaving out, just asking for God's guidance in everything. They have been brought up in church too. Can't say that they all stuck to it, but I truly believe the family that prays together stays together.
I didn't pass on skills - I pass on some belt -and shoes and anything I could catch (laughs). Sherene (eldest) was easy to train. Since she was the eldest and easy to train the others followed. I physically stayed with them no matter what I was doing. I believe in parents staying very close to their children in those formative years. I would come home from work and the minute I was taking my shower, Sherene (in fact all of them) would come into the bathroom, sit on the bathroom floor on the mat and go over what her teacher said to her that day and the day's proceedings.
Even from then I started telling them that they didn't need to brag or boast, they must simply go to school and be very helpful to their teachers. That was something my mother passed on to me, even the picking up of chalk for your teacher. If you look out for your teacher your teacher would look out for you. Their grandparents were teachers, I taught too, and I really believe that you should take the training you get at home to school. You have to smooth out the rough behaviours at home no matter how poor or how rich you are. When they leave school they will take the training with them and doors will be opened for them without even asking.
aw: Where did you go to school?
LG: I completed school at New York Business Institute. After leaving college I spent time at the British and Africa Affairs and then worked at the United Kingdom and Supply delegation, a subsidiary of the British Consulate.
The Golding family, Stephen (top centre), Shereen(left) and Ann-Merita with parents Bruce and Lorna Golding; and at left, as a young family in this 1985 photo.
aw: I read somewhere that you worked for the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People). What was the experience like?
LG: I had a very interesting job at the NAACP. I was a junior administrative assistant to the executive chairman of the membership department, who was in charge of the entire membership of NAACP groups throughout the US. That prepared me for politics. I actually learnt how you got to the grassroots of American politics by registering every member that voted, mostly for the democrats. I assisted in overseeing that every member paid their dues every year which is what would entitle them to jobs and any other programmes that the government offered. Before I joined the NAACP I worked with the Sierra Leone Mission to the United Nations. That was my first job after I left New York Business Institute. That was in the days when John H Kerr was Sierra Leone's ambassador to Jamaica. Those years Mr Shearer was first foreign minister and then he became Prime Minister. And that is another experience I had that really prepared me for politics. At the time I didn't know the role Jamaica played in the liberation of Africa - of black people and the apartheid government. This was when I learnt about slavery after intimately coming into contact with it.
aw: You have participated in the 'Million Woman March' put on by the group Mothers in Crisis to help highlight the critical role of the mother in the Jamaican family. How important is it to you to work with women's groups, and to work in improving the image and values of Jamaica's women and mothers?
LG: There is no doubt that the Jamaican woman has worked very, very hard especially in family engineering. We were born to take up our position in life. There is no if, ands or buts that there is a serious place for us in the society to help to keep order, whether we are in our home, in the church in the school or in the community. It is a legacy handed down by the women of the Bible. We have traditionally worked hard, but there is always room for improvement, because different facets of life have been forced on us, all sorts of challenges as world order takes place, so we have to engineer ourselves in order to fit in.
Here I am, being the Prime Minister's wife, there have been challenges but here I am. It's funny, but (as a woman) I have always been preparing for Bruce and not myself.
INDEED, Lorna Golding and her three children have publicly attested to their love and support of their husband and father, and the public has seen a family that is very encouraging of the father's ambitions - ambitions he's had for most of his life.
"I have never ceased believing," Mrs Golding said when asked if she ever thought she would become the Prime Minister's wife. "I shared his dream that he would someday be Prime Minister. I have been very optimistic. I have been around politics since I have been married - 34 years now, and I have watched Bruce work so assiduously, so constructively and sincerely. He really never hesitated to tell me that his work was with the people and he was always saying that he wants to serve his country. I never let up believing he could do it."
aw: How did you meet your husband?
LG: We met at a wedding, where he was toasting the bridesmaid and extolling the virtues of the bridesmaid to the marriage. I was awed! He took that little thing and made such a photographic story of the job of a bridesmaid. He formed so many words around it. He made that little job seem so important, I was extremely impressed with the way he expressed himself. Then he visited my sister-in-law a few days after the wedding and I met him there, and six months after that it was history!
aw: What is it like being married to a politician and now the Prime Minister, a man who will always be busy.
LG: It has been exciting for me and you only get out of life what you put in. You get the sweet results if you put in sweet work. Life is naturally challenging but I don't have any defining moments that I am afraid of. Separate and apart from a politician, I married a real gentleman. Sometimes I really have to look a quarrel with him (laughs). The man has become the Prime Minister of the country, it has been his dream to serve, now he really has got service on his hand and I have to give him 101 per cent support - as I have always given, now I may have to give 102. If I am ever going to get depressed, I have exciting friends all over the world that I can visit - all over Africa - Nigeria, Sierra Leone, friends in Europe and right here in Jamaica.
aw: How have you dealt with the hurdles you had to overcome as his wife to be able to celebrate 34 years?
LG: Oh without even thinking, any hurdle you come up to you have to decide there and then whether you are going to cross it or if you are going to allow it to cross you. It is all a matter of giving and taking - simply giving and taking. And sometimes I think about how Bruce would think. I live for my family or maybe they live for me because they know I am a strict, disciplined person - hardly give but I take (laugh). Some positive thinking and some down to earth, moral and principled approach was how I dealt with my hurdles.
aw: Your advice to one of the main marital problems of cheating husbands?
LG: In a marriage you have to give a little and take plenty. If you suspect your partner of cheating, you first have to be sure because some men get their ego stroked by pretending to be having an affair, just to see how you would react because they want more attention. My mother would say, place some importance on yourself. Know your self worth as a wife. A lot of 'other women' don't recognise the power of a wife. But you have some wives too who need to revaluate their self-worth.
AT this point we are joined by a special houseguest, Wendy Williams-Reynolds, Mrs Golding's friend of 35 years. Both agreed that they have shared many a moment together - both good and bad. Now she is visiting to celebrate with Mrs Golding in her moment of triumph. Introductions out of the way the interview continued:
aw: What advice do you have for young couples on making marriage and family work?
LG: Young girls have to look at the life of their friends and their mothers and learn from their mistakes or successes. Nothing has really changed in 30 years even though they say we live in a global age, an IT age, but it is really what you put into the computer that you get back out. So you need to use your brain, you need to look at your partner. I'd tell young girls to check out the background of the man, look at the family - check the pedigree (laughs, I hope that doesn't offend anyone). Look at the African adage, a girl has to look at the tribe they are coming from. Look at the man good. Look if he is too sweet. Because he gives you a dozen roses each week it's not necessarily love. I really would love to involve myself in counselling young couples, which is one of my passions. Because I have a knack of looking at young men and telling if they are a 'tall handsome fast talking dude'.
aw: Read any good books lately? What's your favourite leisure activity?
LG: I am fascinated by religious books by Ellen G White. I like The Value in the Valley by Iyanla Vanzant and Jesus the CEO by Laurie Beth Jones. I read them over and over. My favourite leisure activity? How can you love to do anything around a politician? (laughs). What I love to do these days is go out and to buy a piece of art. And I love to go to art exhibitions and just view the art and interpret it and ask others what they think of it. I also love to counsel young girls about their lives.
aw: What are some of your bad qualities?
LG: I love to laugh!
"She has zero tolerance for persons who don't perform well," Reynolds chipped in. "She doesn't suffer fools gladly," they both laughed.
aw: You're always immaculately dressed, who's your favourite designer?
LG: Kenneth Edgar, one of my past students. He is now a local stylist. I also love Armani and Alberto Makali.
aw: Any fascination with shoes?
LG: (Laughs)
"Is the pope Catholic?" Reynolds asked.
(More laughs)
LG: My husband calls me Imelda Marcos when it comes to shoes. I really cannot give a figure as to the amount of shoes I own!
aw: Describe a typical Sunday
LG: 5:30 am I get up and walk around the neighbourhood or follow an exercise programme on Fit TV. A typical Sunday for me is one where Bruce makes breakfast. He likes Saltfish cooked up with tomatoes, onions and a little vineger. And I like liver and onion and he has learnt to make that even better than me now. Sometimes he would make Chinese dim sum, but nowadays he has gotten so busy ... but we are not letting him off on it. After that I read the newspaper and take care of my personal little stuff at home and send a few emails to my friends before lunch. Then it's relaxation followed by dinner and ice-cream and cake.
aw: What do you do in your 'me' time?
LG: I pray. Talk to God for grace, strength, courage - not just for me but my family, friends and Jamaica at large.
-husseyd@jamaicaobserver.com
Pernel Charles Sister Lazie.I truly admire and respect this Lady.
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