1925–1937: (Suzanne Sylvain and the Death Space — The Simultaneous Outpouring of Grief Care and Efforts to Record Life During the Funeral Being the Very Expr…

1925–1937: (Suzanne Sylvain and the Death Space — The Simultaneous Outpouring of Grief Care and Efforts to Record Life During the Funeral Being the Very Expression That Had Captured Eldest Daughter Suzanne Since She Was a Sickly Child Comforted by Folklores Her Caregiver Amise Told While Nursing Her Back to Health, Young Suzanne Voluntarily Attending Wakes Funerals and Burials of Those She Knew and Did Not Know to Hear Loved Ones Narrate the Life of the Deceased, Drawn to the Provocative Performance of the Wake — the Pre-Funeral Ritual of Sitting with or Dancing Around the Body While Family and Elders Told Stories Over the Dead, Yet Her Pleasure in Dwelling with the Sounds and Sites of Celebrating the Dead Not Guarding Her from Deep Sorrow — Beginning a “Long Eight Years” in Which Her Brother Normil and Mother Also Died): The simultaneous outpouring of grief, care, tales of grandeur, and efforts to account for and record life that took place during the funeral ceremonies was the very expression that had captured Sylvain’s eldest daughter Suzanne since she was a little girl. A sickly child whose illnesses brought her close to her own mortality, Suzanne was comforted by folklores that her caregiver Amise told her while nursing her back to health. Enchanted by these stories, the young Suzanne voluntarily attended the end-of-life ceremonies — wakes, funerals, and burials — of those she knew and did not know, to hear loved ones narrate the life of the deceased. She was particularly drawn to the provocative performance of the wake, the pre-funeral ritual of sitting with or dancing around the body of the deceased while family, friends, and elders told stories over the dead. According to her family, these rituals soothed Suzanne’s physical ailing and charged her curiosity. It is likely that much of that same tranquility and anticipatory energy pulsed through the crowd on August 3. Still, Suzanne’s pleasure in dwelling with the sounds and sites of celebrating the dead did not guard her from falling into a period of deep sorrow following her father’s death, beginning a long eight years in which her eldest brother Normil Sylvain and mother also died. The familial loss and its attendant meanings hovered over Suzanne’s and her sisters’ thinking and organizing work. Madeleine, who had just returned from her studies in Jamaica at the Immaculate Conception Academy, took on new responsibility for her three younger siblings.