Features

Going the distance, TOGETHER

Zetilda and James Dillion - Yolande Gyles

FOR ALMOST 50 YEARS, Zetilda and James Dillon have been each other's support. Together, they have made sacrifices and built a life, but it almost never happened.

The couple who now reside in the district of Chateau in Clarendon, sat down with THE WEEKEND STAR for a walk down memory lane, back to when they met in St. Andrew.

Zetilda told THE WEEKEND STAR that in the beginning, she was not interested in James. "I used to go to church and he would always see me going to church and he would whistle at me or call to me but I never stopped or listened. I would just keep walking," she revealed.

She said that even though she thought that he was a handsome young man and all the girls liked him, her aunt, with whom she resided at the time, warned her to stay away from boys and she was doing just that. Thankfully Zetildas did not heed her aunt's advice where James was concerned. "One day he sent me a message and we started to play hide and seek," she said.

A year passed and they became friends. "It was not like now when people have boyfriend and girlfriend, you could not do that. But anyway, we became friends and then it became a strong like," she said.

She realised that James had even stronger intentions, when, one day he arrived unannounced at her aunt's home on Burke Road in St. Andrew. "He came up to the door and asked if he could speak with my aunt. She told him that she could not speak with him then because she was getting my uncle ready for work, he was to come back later."

Sent away

He did just that. "I was listening behind a door, while they were talking in the drawing room, that is what we used to call it. He told my aunt that he wanted to marry me and she told him 'no'. She told him that I was going to go back to school and that he could not support me and she sent him away."

However, like a man with a mission, James was undeterred. "He told me that he was going to the country for two weeks and he would be back. He came back in four days and came to the house again. He told my aunt, "My pa says that I am to marry her. She is my wife and I am to marry her."

He then kissed me on my cheek in front of my aunt ­ the first time a boy ever kissed me ­ ever. There was no more objections after that."

That was Christmas 1945. The Dillons were wed on January 10, 1946.

The union produced two children, Dr. Hyacinth Oates and Doreen. Dr. Oates lives on the same Clarendon property with her parents, while Doreen lives in England. They also have six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Life was not easy for the family in the beginning. "We know what it is like to be without money," Zetilda said. "I never got a cent from my husband before we were married," she added. He quickly chimed in; "I never had it to give, I never wanted anybody to love me for my money."

They struggled to survive and this prompted James to travel to England to make a better life for himself and his family. "We were poor. It was for a better life. To get to buy your own home and be better settled," he said in giving the reason for his decision to go. He left in 1956 and his wife and family followed in 1958. In England, they both worked in factories.

In August 1974, Zetilda moved to the United States of America and began a commuting relationship between there and England with her husband. "It was a lot of plane ride because I was always going back and forth," she said.

In the USA, she worked once as a housekeeper before working for the State of New York. Her husband finally joined her a few years later, and there he worked as a machine operator.

They returned to Jamaica a decade ago when their daughter Hyacinth fetched them. "She came and packed us up and said you are coming back to Jamaica." It was a decision the couple say they do not regret.

Friends

Doreen, who, Zetilda telephoned in England during the THE WEEKEND STAR's visit, described her parents as the best anybody could ask for. "They are loving, passionate and have a great sense of humour. They are not just parents, they are also friends."

Hyacinth agreed entirely and added that they were 'very practical and solid people'.

Mrs. Dillon advises young couples who are thinking about marriage to take that step only if they are in love. "Make sure that they are in love before they get married because there are some tough times, we have been through them and we have come through looking like gold."