I think that I am a very fortunate girl. One of the main things in our family is culture ( alot of culture).  I am the second child (Graeme, my brother is two years older) born to Kenneth Leslie Oakley ( part Jamaican and English background) and Veronica Eileen (nee Thomsen) Oakley ( part Danish, Irish and English).

Growing up in this wonderful family was a great cultural experience. My Father and Mother taught my brother and I that we needed to respect other people from other countries because both of us were from a coloured and white family.  My Father used to say, "There is a whole world out there to discover.", he wanted his two children to understand that living in society was living with different cultures.

My Grand-Father (Pa) Oakley (half Jamican/English) once told me that his parents would invite people from different backgrounds/cultures to their house on Saturday nights to praise God. This is so awesome, the coming together of neighbours  to share in fellowship together or as I feel, to have a gospel night.

Another interesting factor growing up in a coloured/ white family, is that my parents and Grand- parents (Dad's parents) never mentioned hateful things about people. They wanted my brother and I to understand that hate is not good in the world and we should try and understand people from different backgrounds.