Letters to My Father

This book tells the autobiography of my father, his years in Haiti, and his transition as an immigrant in foreign lands. His personal account mirrors the daily struggles one may face under the Duvaliers' regimes in the sixties through the mid of eighties to cultural shock and identity in other countries. Growing up, he experiences a lot of different emotions regarding his father's absence from the home along with dealing with his sudden death that had such an impact on his life. He tells this story in a narrative to inform his deceased father about his life. In his prime years, his dad caresses the hem of his mother's skirt, expressing how close the pair were. Hence, his mother taught him domestic chores, which is culturally catered to women. Throughout his secondary years, he expresses the demise of his teacher purposely failing him to hinder him from moving forward in the next class as well as the financial difficulties he faced during his time at Diquini, a congressional school, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Luckily, his eldest brother, whom he mentions throughout his book, was a pivotal stepping stone in his success there, along with his transition in America. In hopes of creating a family with his first love from Haiti, Dadoutte, she swindles him in hopes that they'll be reunited one day. She's destined to marry another suitor. After denying himself from women for a long time, he decided to open his heart to a girl, Samartha Mentor, who's visiting his home church, Horeb, now his wife of thirty years. His goal in Canada was to achieve a scholarship to further his studies and dreams of becoming a physician. Being isolated from his family back in Haiti, his stay there with his cousin, Gabriel, was extremely short-lived. Throughout his demise, he sought aid again from his brother Maurice in bringing himself to the United States. There, he began doing many odd jobs working in factories creating furniture pieces and being a taxi driver before being driven into the education field by a friend, Dr. Emmanuel Celestin, who saw Jean-Claude wasting his life away as a taxi driver. Taking this new job, teaching Haitians and Hispanic immigrants English at Wingate High School, has allowed him to further his career as an educator, where he retired as a school counselor, twenty-eight years and an half later at the age of sixty-two. Enjoy your reading! Nhaomie-Claudia Blaise, Daughter

-- Jean-Claude Blaise