The gentleman at the Assisted Living facility
says that he’s young, only 97 years old.
Much younger than a Seychelles giant tortoise,
and better looking too.
He has a good sense of humour,
young eyes, and a sharp mind.
He is known in certain academic circles
as a mathematical genius.
Even at 97, he continues to read the academic journals,
and I see that he is sometimes visited by professors,
some active, some retired.
Mathematics professors never retire,
but they do lose some of their functions.
He giggles as his own joke.
He was born in Trinidad,
the youngest of four boys.
His father died when he was an infant
and his mother never remarried.
He was raised by his mother and her sisters.
When they were old enough,
in turn, his brothers left the island,
taking a ship to New York City.
It was the only way to get to America back then.
He was the last of his siblings to leave.
He didn’t want to, though.
He thought it his duty to stay home
and look after his mother.
But she insisted.
He must go.
He must build and home and future for himself.
Reluctantly, he allowed his mother to lead him
to the pier and see him off.
And as our young gentleman saw his home island
slowly grow distant,
he had second thoughts.
No, he could not leave his mother.
He had a duty.
Already he was homesick and
the boat hadn’t even cleared the reefs.
He decided he would jump ship and swim back home.
He grabbed his bag just as the ship
was rounding the last of the reefs,
heading out to the Caribbean.
He had to make his move right away;
in a few minutes, it would be too late.
But as he prepared to jump,
Fate intervened.
There below him was a school of sharks.
There would be no swimming back now.
The young gentleman stayed his course,
arrived in New York City
and built a life for himself:
education, academia, entrepreneurship,
wife, children, grandchildren,
great-grandchildren.
He never saw his mother again.
The gentleman is humble when he tells his stories.
He may be a mathematician by profession,
but he is a philosopher at heart.
Wisdom envelops him.
I am blessed with several conversations
with this delightful soul
before he leaves for that place
where the spirits of the mathematicians
and the philosophers assemble.