‘This is a special child’
Grandma says family saw Toni-Ann Singh’s greatness from birth
CECILE BAILEY, the grandmother of Miss World 2019 Toni-Ann Singh, was overwhelmed with emotions yesterday when The Gleaner visited her home.
She had not yet seen or spoken to her granddaughter since her coronation in London, England, on December 14, and was brimming with excitement to congratulate her.
“I missed the call, so I did not get to speak to her [earlier],” said a teary-eyed Bailey, who is fondly called ‘Mama Bloss’.
She finally got the opportunity on the last leg of Singh’s tour of sections of her native parish, St Thomas, at the Bath Botanic Gardens.
For the first few moments on stage, Bailey embraced Singh, kissed her hands and embraced her again, this time for about two minutes.
“When Toni-Ann was born, one of my other daughters came and she looked at Toni-Ann and said, ‘Mama, this is a special child’,” she recalled.
Bailey remembers how she used to skip around the yard and sing as a little girl before she migrated at age nine.
“When we had family worship, Toni-Ann would try to lead out in that worship as a little child,”noting that as a religious family, who are members of the Bath Seventh-day Adventist Church, they also taught her to pray.
Nicole Lindo, Singh’s cousin, shared in the celebrations and comforted Mama Bloss as she shed tears of joy.
“I left New York and came here for two days just to be with her and see this. This is amazing! To see where she’s coming from,” Lindo said. “They’re not a hype family – very low key and humble.”
Referencing Mama Bloss, she said: “This is the foundation of the family, and she raised them the right way. She instilled principles and values in them and that they take with them wherever they go,” Lindo said.
Singh’s grandmother was presented with a floral gift by St Thomas Western Member of Parliament James Robertson during the short welcome ceremony in her hometown, Bath.
“Thank you for taking care of Mama Bloss because she is the matriarch of the family,” Singh said in response.
Singh was also presented with a book of poems and other writings by her uncle, Alfred Singh, shortly after laying floral tributes on the tombs of her grandfather and former councillor, Harold Singh, and grandmother Julia Watson.
Singh and her uncle attended a family funeral last year at which he recited a poem he had written.
“When I finished my poem, she said, ‘You were good! You are pretty ... . Your brain is pretty!’So she gave me the book and she said, ‘Write in the book and when the book is filled, return it’,” the 64-year-old Alfred said.
One of the last things he had written in it was a poem about her most recent triumph and her love for family.