by Howard Campbell
KINGSTON, Jamaica – In a career that has produced numerous hit singles, Carlene Davis has a lot to be thankful for. Being a mother, however, gives her a bigger thrill than a number one song.
Davis is the mother of two children and grandmother of one grandchild. A self-described “bonus mother”, she considers her husband’s eleven grandchildren part of her extended family.
She told South Florida Caribbean News that Mother’s Day is sacred in her book.
Carlene Davis
“As I mature, it becomes more and more seamless, every role is narrowed down to that one space and place of living your life with transparency. Whatever I desire for my family, husband, children and grandchildren that is what they ought to see being displayed and at work in me,” said Davis. “So, come Mother’s Day, I look forward to a time to continue this bonding, where the role is reversed. I am now able to spend the day just chilling, relaxing and allowing them to shower me with their love and their take of who I am to them, and what they have learnt from my service of love in their lives.”
Although she is from Clarendon parish in rural Jamaica, Davis spent much of her youth and early adulthood in the United Kingdom and Canada before returning to her homeland during the early 1980s. Even when living abroad, the singer maintained strong ties with her mother.
“My mother, Chrystal, God rest her soul. She and I were very close, we grew closer when I became a mother. She was already a grandmother when I had my first child, so there were many questions that I looked to her for answers and she was always there for me, even though we were miles apart, it was sweeter when she visited us,” Davis recalled.
It was shortly after returning to Jamaica that her career took off with songs including Like Old Friends Do, Going Down to Paradise, It Must be Love and Stealing Love on The Side.
Since becoming a Christian over 30 years ago, Davis has shed secular songs from her live show, choosing to perform tracks from her gospel albums.
Carlene Davis is scheduled to perform May 8 on the April 30-May 12 Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival.
The post Carlene Davis and the Meaning of Mother’s Day appeared first on South Florida Caribbean News.
