Tribute To Madam Florence Taylor

Sadly the Ghanaian community in London is bereaved again! This time, it's Mrs Florence Taylor, of World's End (Chelsea).. Popularly known as “Yaa Flo”, she was born at Asiakwa, in Akyem Abuakwa, in 1943. Her funeral will be held on 29 July 2016.

IT was my privilege to know the late Florence Taylor intimately from about age ten.

This was because she was the childhood sweetheart of my elder brother, the late Kwasi Kwakye, or “McKwachie”, as he became known in the United Kingdom. I was their “betweener”, which means it was I who arranged for them to meet when they felt like seeing each other. There was a big shade tree outside Yaa's house at Betenase, Asiakwa, and I would just go and stand underneath it and whistle – whii-whae! - and she'd get the message. This created a bond between us which lasted all our lives and which baffled almost everyone – for we both knew how to respect other people's secrets.

There was one secret, though, that neither of us could keep from the world: this was that Yaa was one of the most generous, most friendly, indefatigably cheerful and personally assiduous creatures that God ever placed on earth. Whenever I was in London on a visit from Ghana, she went the extra mile to make sure that I always got things to eat that would not make me miss home!

Life dealt her very heavy blows – mostly in the form of betrayal by persons in whom she had reposed her trust and even love. But she rode high above any misfortune that threatened her equanimity. She turned tragedies into opportunities and thus won the respect and admiration of those who might initially have entertained doubts about her. Indeed, her life was the very personification of a Twi proverb which says, “Nea ohuu me sree no, behu me asu!“ (Any person who once saw me as someone to mock, will look upon me and be chastened by his or her own presumptuousness.) This saying is particularly apposite in a community like that of Ghanaians in London, where petty jealousies and careless gossiping often cause unnecessary distress to those who require the community's understanding and sympathy instead.

Yaa Florence was born at Asiakwa on 22 January 1943 to Madam Rosina Ama Gyekyewaa (generally known as ”Maame Ama”) and the late Mr Alex Maxwell Agyekum. She was the second child of the couple.

Yaa's maternal grand-father, Agya Kwasi Daako, was one of the richest farmers at Asiakwa, a fact which instilled into Florence, the strongly-rooted self-confidence that enabled her to meet head-on, any tribulations she encountered in later life.

Yaa attended Asiakwa Presbyterian primary and junior school. She showed interest in vocational skills and so attended Akooko Vocational School, near Asafo, in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

After leaving the Vocational School, she She got married to Mr. Taylor Boadi, a businessman from Ammuanna Praso, a town near Nkawkaw. They had a son, Kofi Boadi, who sadly passed away when he was only 5 years old. Mr. Boadi migrated to the UK and after a while, she joined him.

But life in the UK was anything but a bed of roses for Florence. After a few years in London, Mr Boadi peremptorily abandoned her and her two small children.. This is how the traumatic incident is remembered by one of Yaa's children: “When I was child in the 1970s, her husband, Daddy Taylor, abandoned us and cleared out the flat.

We were homeless! I remember us walking, with my baby sister, to the social service office for help. She was now a single parent. She worked as a seamstress from home to support us. She lost her younger daughter, Sandra, when Sandra was only 5yrs old. Since she'd also lost a son in Ghana at the same age, this troubled her greatly and she never really got over it! She mourned Sandra to her dying day.”

Troubled though she was, Yaa managed, through her own efforts, to obtain a job as a seamstress at one of the most prestigious hotels in London, the Royal Garden in Kensington. Her stable personality helped her to stay in the job f0r a good fifteen years, and to rise to become the Hotel's Uniforms and Repairs Supervisor. Because of her enthusiasm for work and her cheerful personality, she was highly esteemed by both the staff and the guests of the hotel.

While working at the Hotel, Yaa became a registered foster parent and took in three children altogether. Her love for children was such that she later adopted all the three children who had been placed in her care. She is thus survived by three biological children and three adopted ones.

Florence loved music and her daughter, Afua, recalls that “she bought a collection of records before she even had a record player, and saved up to buy the latest model of the player she wanted.”

She never missed an opportunity to dance and encouraged others to join in -- “even with her arthritic knees” (Afua recalls.) I myself can testify to her love of dancing: once, when I was passing through London on my way to Ghana from France and Belgium, we danced all night to a collection of Congolese records I'd bought in Paris and Brussels.

Afua describes her Mum as “a beautiful woman inside and out. She had a sense of style and took pride in her appearance. She encouraged her children to make the most of ourselves”.

May she rest n peace.