Susannah Amelia Kuylen née Robertson

January 8th, 1889 – May 27th, 1968

Susannah Amelia Robertson was born on January 8th, 1889. She was one of eight children born from the union of Charles Jasper Robertson and Susana Alamilla Sosa. Susannah was called “Amy”, a shortened version of her middle name “Amelia.”

At the young age of nine, Amy lost her little brother, Douglas Lyon on October 19, 1898. He was only three years old and died from convulsions. Shortly after this, she also lost her dear father, Charles Jasper Robertson, to Black Water Fever. He was only forty-two. So, like her future husband, Aurelio, Amy knew the pain of loss and grief at an early age.

Amy was not an ordinary child. She was born with a special gift know in our Belizean culture as “Caul,” that is being born with the placental membrane over the face. In other cultures this is known as the “Sixth Sense” and this permits the person with the ability to see and communicate with the dead, having extrasensory perception which allows for communication beyond our physical world.

Over the years, Amy experienced many encounters with the spiritual world. Sometimes, it was with family or friends who were already “Travelling,” or near death. Sometimes, it would occur the night after a death. Because of this ability, or gift, coupled with her deep religious faith, Amy did not fear death. She firmly believed that our life on Earth was just a temporary but required existence and that death was not the end, just a new beginning.

I am not sure exactly when Grandad Aurelio started to court Granny Amy, but it was most likely in their late teens. However, she always spoke of the sweetheart candies he would bring her when he came courting. The candies were heart-shaped and etched on each was a romantic saying of “sweet nothings” such as “Kiss Me”, “Be Mine”, “Love”, “Forever”. These candies are still here today and are especially popular around Valentine’s Day. Amy and Aurelio most likely got married sometime between 1908 or 1909 as their first child, Olive, was born on July 17th, 1910.

Amy also had another suitor. He was a young man from Renfrewshire, Scotland, by the name of John McArthur. He was boarding at her mom’s hotel and was very smitten by Amy. John eventually returned to Scotland alone, however, after Amy turned him down for Aurelio. Nevertheless, they continued to communicate via postal mail for many years. One day, while browsing through Granny’s address book, I came across an address that caught my attention. It was an address in Scotland, but included in the address was “Stann Creek.” Granny explained that on returning to Scotland, John had added “Stann Creek” as the name of his dwelling.