The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

It has been widely circulated on social media and confirmed that The Bahamas at large and the Grand Bahama and East End communities have lost a warrior of a woman in the person of Anita Doherty. A former Chief Councilor for the City of Grand Bahama, and a well-known athlete, Anita received many accolades in her lifetime and has held many titles. The title with the most significant impact to most of us who remember her, however, must be “Mrs D” a name used by her former students.

Anita Dougherty stood as a living timeline that connected Freeport High to Freeport Anglican High to BMES. For every student who feared her, I cannot imagine that there are any of us that cannot call her name in love. Mrs D was perhaps the only authority figure in our lives who told us to “scatta matta fadda,” glare those green eyes at us, point those worn hands, and with one look, get us moving, all without anyone reacting in anger or writing her name in curse words on some classroom board or internet one. We loved her; every single warrior she taught or principled loved her, which is an amazing feat.

There are two personal memories of Mrs D that I’d love to share.

1) She made space for the lonely.

Several years ago, in celebration of something or another, the Freeport High Alumni Association held a banquet at the Grand Lucayan for a reunion. My grade hadn’t been out of school for ten years yet, so of our class of (I think) 62, only two of us made it. Ms D spotted me right away, “come and sit with me,” she said brightly, and just like that, I was no longer alone. I honour that quality in Mrs D. She would have met thousands of students in her years, yet she made every one of us feel special and like we were not alone. Those of us left to honour her memory ought to ask ourselves how we can do the same. I thank God that in the heavens beyond this life, she is surrounded by all of those she helped and is not alone.

2) She got us to take on whatever was in front of us with strength and grace.

Mrs D was at my wedding in New Providence. I don’t know if she was in town for some ACEA meeting or if she boarded a plane to sit in that church, but she was there. My dad died three years before I got married, and as I stood at the end of that aisle, the weight of missing him crushed me. My mom’s gentle hands were entwined in mine, but she couldn’t get me to move. “My Daddy” was the muffle sobbed that I yelled, though the words were probably so lost in my sobs, I’m not sure what anyone else heard. The next thing I heard, though, was the voice of Anita, “walk on the left,” Dougherty. I cannot recall what words she said, but whatever it was, combined with those piercing greens, got me moving. I hold that memory of her smiling face dear in my heart. I thank God that she is in a place where she will smile forever.

There are so many other ways Mrs D has impacted my life. Later in life, I learned that she recommended me to be a guest on Deborah Pratt’s teen talk show on ZNS back in the day, long before I would come to host Bahamas at Sunrise on the same channel. She brought my name to the Freeport Council to be placed on their Wall of Fame as Most Outstanding Student in 2006, again something I learned only recently. In private and public, Mrs D has rooted for me all along the way, and the best part is that I am not alone or unique. She did it for every student she called her own, which is why she will be missed.

Take your rest, Mrs D. It’s time to “scatta matta fadda.”

ANASTARCIA PALACIOUS

Nassau,

March 28, 2022.