Jump Up

Tonight we will attend our first Jump Up without Jared.  I know he and other Crucians in Heaven will be celebrating with us.  I wish so much that Jared would have chosen not to committ suicide but he did.  He also chose to live life to its' absolute fullest while he was on Earth.  So while I may not feel like celebrating, I will go forward and enjoy all the things he would have enjoyed about tonight.  He would have enjoyed watching Kiki and the Flaming Gypsies....he was after all ALL BOY and loved half dressed good looking girls.  I will enjoy conversations with friends and make new ones.  I will enjoy the warm Caribbean breezes on the Boardwalk.  I will smile as I pay a drink tab that probably has a drink or two for a friend on it.  Most of all, I will enjoy memories of Jared at past Jump Ups.  I will also enjoy the love and companionship of my sweet husband Rich.  He has shown me over the past month a side I never knew he had.  One of softness and vulnerability.  He has taken Jared's place as being my biggest protector.  I shared with him almost a month ago, that this tragedy had the potential to drive us apart or closer together.  We have cried together, laughed together, and shared very raw feelings together.  We are making sure we do not drive one another away from each other but rather pull tighter to one another and weather this storm together.
I will enjoy an event that inside I may not want to but, I know that Jared would not want me to sit and wallow in missery but "Come On Mom and Make A Difference".  Jared was a lot like me when it came to that.  Don't believe me ask Brian Chase.  Jared had practice but continued to check on Brian to make sure he didn't need anything in his election tent.  He believed Brian would be a better candidate for the betterment of the students in Cheatham County.  He campaigned for Mary MacRae to become Mayor of Cheatham County.  However, God knew things were going to change for her and she would be needed much more by her sweet Angel Johnnie.  I was surprised at the Kingston Springs service that MacRae for Mayor flyers did not fall from the sky that night.  I even found some messages on his phone asking friends of his to vote for her.  What a kid!  I know that when Mary is elected this fall as the Mayor Of Cheatham County that Jared will be there celebrating with her.
So those of you who do not live on St. Croix....Jump Up tonight and celebrate life.  Celebrate all the beautiful things around you.
From Wikipedia:

A moko jumbie (also known as "moko jumbi" or "mocko jumbie") is a stilts walker or dancer. The origin of the term may come from "Moko" (a possible reference to an African god) and "jumbi", a West Indian term for a ghost or spirit that may have been derived from the Kongo language word zumbi. The Moko Jumbies are thought to originate from West African tradition brought to the Caribbean.

A Moko Jumbie character may wear colorful garb and carnival masks. They also frequent festivals and celebrations such asTrinidad and Tobago Carnival.

While the god Moko is from the Kongo (or Congo) and Nigeria, from the Nuapa people, Trinidad and Tobago has added their own touch to him. Moko, in the traditional sense, is a god. He watches over his village, and due to his towering height, he is able to foresee danger and evil. His name, Moko, literally means the “diviner” and he would be represented by men on towering stilts and performs acts that were unexplainable to the human eye. In one remote tribe, the Moko rises from a regular mans’ height to the skies fluidly with no help and descends similarly to leave others to wonder how he performed such an act.

The Moko arrived in Trinidad by “walking all the way across the Atlantic Ocean from the West coast of Africa, laden with many, many centuries of experience, and, in spite of all inhuman attacks and encounters, yet still walks tall, tall, tall. (John Cupid, Caribbean Beat)” The idea of the Moko survived by living in the hearts of African descendants during slavery and colonial life to eventually walk the streets of Trinidad in a celebration of freedom, Carnival. While this figure was rooted in African heritage, Trinidad adapted the figure, notably by adding on Jumbie or ghost to the name. The by the early 1900s Moko Jumbies had become an element of Trinidad’s Carnival. This figure would walk the streets of Port of Spain and other cities protecting the city and revelers from evil. As part of his role in Carnival the Moko Jumbie would accept donations from onlookers in upper floors of buildings. However, his notable figure of Carnival slowly faded until a drastic revival.

By the early 1990s Moko Jumbies were essentially non-existent in Carnival, until two men brought this tradition back. These men, namely Moose and Dragon, have brought the Moko Jumbie back to a place of prominence in Carnival and created a new kind of Moko Jumbie. One man originally brought the idea to them as well as the knowledge of how to make stilts. The style of stilts they walked was very similar to the modern day ones but with one main difference, they had no front leg brace. This changed when a man named Ben Block from Canada, a random traveler, came to Trinidad with a pair of stilts. He had a frontal brace on the upper leg and the Trinidadians took inspiration from this design and used it in their own. Now there are two main Moko Jumbie bands in Trinidad, Watusi and Kilimanjaro, as well as several smaller ones. So while the idea of the Moko came from Africa, Trinidad has made it its own.