Kadine Christie

Kadine Christie, author of I Am Home Within Myself, is pure Jamaican American beauty. She is young and fit with an intellectual air of sensuousness. A writer, wife, mother, educator, and entrepreneur, Kadine Christie smiles because of who she is; however, it took a while. Her exterior had not fully represented the challenging life revealed on the pages of I Am Home Within Myself. In her poetic stories, an underlying torment existed; a demon.

I was born into a kickass love story on the picturesque yet impoverished little island of Jamaica.

Her mother was Lorna; her father, Vivian – a farmworker. They were young, passionate, and in love. Two months after Kadine was born, her parents married at her grandparent’s countryside home, then began family life in a small, mountainside house that Vivian had already lived in and refurbished with his artistic handiwork. Their passion continued, and they loved Kadine and her two younger siblings affectionately; however, the bliss was tainted. Lorna was dedicated to her faith, and Vivian couldn’t give up his worldliness.

The Bible and the bar would continually remain the biggest contention in  my parents’ relationship.

Coming of age, Kadine Christie, with her sister and brother, immigrated to the United States after living with their grandparents awhile – a cultural norm. They settled in New Jersey with their parents but realized they were in “the wrong zip code” and not living the American dream. When Kadine’s mother recognized the need for her daughter to attend a different school, she applied, via a phone call, for an apartment in another school district where Kadine would live during the weekdays. When they came face to face with the white landlord, they were told the apartment was taken.

When she saw us standing there, her initial glow dimmed like an overloaded electric circuit…. The landlady grew angry. Her words, “It’s taken,” pierced the air. She slammed the door shut in our faces. The wealth of choice was not ours.

The years following high school included college and a troubled lover. Together, they produced a child. It wasn\’t long before Kadine left him and began life as a single mother at age 22.

As readers traverse the pages of I Am Home Within Myself, Kadine’s demon, intermittently given voice, disappears and reappears within the chapters.

I stuffed my confusion into a space I pretended for years never existed.

But it did exist. There was the 23-year-old male cousin who lived at her grandparent’s home and sexually abused Kadine. And there was her father, the man who loved her and whose familial love she returned.

Daddy died 17 days after my 18th birthday. I buried our secret of fleeting pleasure and my longing shame behind the quaking of my chest. My insides were slowly rotting. Split and stuck, I cried often.

I Am Home Within Myself depicts various episodes of Kadine Christie’s life. Her struggle with endometriosis led her down a path of attempted healing methods, some quite bizarre. Kadine’s life with her seminarian husband Ontonio also presented fascinating stories as they managed life together. However, the demon that wounded her trust was still there. With Ontonio, she began to purge and heal.

My husband, on the night I cracked open and shattered, sat and held me while I fell apart. He stayed with me on the floor, wiping my face, his eyes full of tears mirroring mine.

~

From the back cover of I Am Home Within Myself:

Kadine Christie earned her BA in Sociology from Kean University and her MA in Counseling Studies from Capella University. She is married to her childhood sweetheart, Ontonio Christie, and they have three beautiful children, Zuri, Zahara and Markolee.

~

Visit Kadine’s engaging website to read her blog musings. View a list of publications featuring her work and enjoy her family and nature photos. You’ll also find her gorgeous hand-knitted blankets! Sign up for her newsletter while you’re there.

Kadine, So great that I have your first postcard in my collection! It\’s very serene. Thank you for making it special with your note. I hope you’ll buy or find another postcard, mail it, and surprise someone. 🙂

~Anita

Postcard by Scenic Florida Distributors
Info on Anna Maria Island, Florida