By Simone Maddix | The Law Spa
A story for young readers and the grown-ups beside them, as Jamaica prepares for National Heroes Day on Monday, 19 October 2026. Faithy and Grandma Beryl are somewhat fictional. Their conversation helps us explore real questions about service, courage and leadership.
The Question in the Library
Faithy had a pencil, a blank page and a problem.
Her page said: What makes a hero?
Underneath, she had written one word.
Brave.
Then she stopped.
Outside the community library, black, green and gold ribbons fluttered in the warm breeze. Heroes Day was coming. Faithy wanted her answer to be good enough for the occasion.
“Grandma Beryl, do heroes have to be the loudest people?”
Grandma B, closed her book.
“Why do you ask?”
“Because when someone wants things to change, everyone says they must speak up.”
“Speaking up matters,” Grandma B, said. “But what happens after people hear you?”
Faithy looked at her page.
That was the part she had not thought about.
A Name and a Bigger Question
They were reading about The Right Excellent Norman Washington Manley, one of Jamaica's National Heroes and a lawyer.
“A lawyer uses words?” Faithy asked.
“Words, careful thinking and knowledge of the law. Lawyers help people explain problems, protect their rights and look for fair answers.”
“So their words can change things?”
“They can. That is a kind of power.”
Faithy imagined a pencil so strong that it could lift a whole building.
Grandma Beryl smiled.
“Not that kind of power. The power to help people understand. To ask a question others missed. To make a plan that lasts.”
“Is that why we remember him?”
“His life gives us much to learn about public service and Heroes Day belongs to all Jamaica's National Heroes. We do not need to make one smaller to learn something from another.”
Faithy added a second word beneath Brave.
Helpful.
The Bridge Nobody Could Cross
“Imagine this,” Grandma Beryl said. “A little bridge connects a village to its school. One of its boards is broken.”
“Someone should fix it!”
“Exactly. The people who know how to repair bridges ask for help. They ask again. Nobody listens.”
Faithy frowned.
“That is not fair.”
“No. So they decide to close the bridge to make everyone notice.”
“That would work.”
“Perhaps. But who cannot cross it now?”
Faithy pictured children with schoolbags. A grandmother as elderly as hers, carrying groceries. Someone going to an appointment.
“People who did not break it.”
Grandma B, nodded.
“Now we have two questions. How do we get the broken bridge repaired? How do we care for the people who still need to cross?”
“We cannot forget either one,” Faithy said.
Sometimes a good cause needs a better plan.
A Question From the Newspaper
Grandma Beryl pointed to a newspaper article.
On 8 October 2026, Dr Raulston Nembhard wrote in the Jamaica Observer about lawyers, doctors and their ethical obligations.
“What does "ethical obligations" mean?” Faithy asked.
“Responsibilities that help guide how they treat the people who depend on them.”
In his column, Dr. Nembhard, a priest, questioned the withdrawal of services by lawyers and doctors. He asked whether clients and patients were carrying the cost of disputes they had not caused.
He also recognised difficult working conditions for doctors and criticised delays in dealing with their dispute.
“Like the bridge,” Faithy said. “The people asking for repairs might have a real problem but the people waiting to cross have a real problem too.”
“Yes. Listening carefully means hearing more than one side.”
The bridge was only an example, Grandma Beryl, explained. Real legal and medical disputes were more complicated. Still, the small question mattered: Who needs our care while we try to make things better?
An Honour With Work Inside It
There was another newspaper report, published on 14 October.
It described a ceremony for newly appointed King's Counsel. These are experienced lawyers given a special professional honour.
“Like a prize?” Faithy asked.
“An honour,” Grandma B, said “but this one comes with work.”
Retired former Court of Appeal president Justice Seymour Panton had urged lawyers to help lead change. His particular call concerned Jamaica's final appeal court: he wanted lawyers to advise the country's leaders toward replacing the Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice.
“What is an appeal court?”
“A court that can review a decision made by another court. The final appeal court is the last court in that process.”
This was a different issue from the lawyers' service withdrawal to prompt changes to the gun law. Judge Panton's remarks were not about that dispute. Yet they offered another question worth thinking about.
When you have knowledge and people listen to you, what will you do with it?
The report also described Chief Justice Bryan Sykes telling the new King's Counsel that their honour was “an obligation for the future”. Court of Appeal President Marva McDonald-Bishop encouraged them to help younger lawyers and remain approachable.
Faithy thought about the biggest child in her class.
“Being at the front does not mean leaving everyone behind.”
“Exactly,” said Grandma B.
The Mirror
On their way out, they passed a tall mirror.
Faithy stopped.
She could see her pencil tucked behind her ear.
“I am not a lawyer yet,” she said, smiling confidently at her reflection.
“Not every lesson about leadership has to wait until you become one”, Grandma B said.
“What could I do now?” Faithy asked.
“What would you do about our imaginary bridge?” Grandma Beryl probed.
Faithy thought carefully.
“Tell people why it needs fixing. Ask the people who know how. Find a safe way for everyone to get across while they work and check that the repair actually happens.”
Grandma Beryl raised an eyebrow.
“That sounds like a plan.”
Faithy grinned. Then another thought arrived.
“And the people fixing it need to rest. Tired people might miss something important.”
“ My child! Now you are thinking about wellness too.”
Caring for yourself can help you keep caring for others. It is not the same as forgetting them.
The Answer on the Page
Back at the table, Faithy picked up her pencil.
She did not rub out Brave.
She did not rub out Helpful.
She wrote a sentence underneath.
A hero helps people get to a better place and remembers the people still waiting along the way.
“Is that the whole answer?” she asked wise Grandma B.
“It is a beginning worth keeping mi likkle future lawyer!” Grandma Beryl responded to Faithy with an air of certainty.
Outside, the ribbons lifted in the breeze.
Heroes Day would bring remembrance and celebration. All Jamaica's National Heroes would have their place in that remembrance. For Faithy, learning about Norman Washington Manley had also opened a question about what service might look like in her own life.
She looked once more at the mirror.
This time, she did not see someone too small to help.
She saw someone who could begin.
One one cocoa full basket...
At The Law Spa, we believe legal wellness makes room for clear thinking, responsible leadership and care for both the practitioner and the public. For lawyers, the invitation is to use knowledge and influence thoughtfully. For families, it is to help children see that courage can include listening, learning and building a better plan.
This Heroes Day, honour the lives we remember. Then ask a question that belongs to all of us:
What will I do with the good I can give?
Sources for the public commentary: Dr. Raulston Nembhard, “Lawyers and doctors, be mindful of your ethical obligations”, Jamaica Observer, 8 October 2026; Alicia Dunkley-Willis, “New King's Counsel charged to lead change”, Jamaica Observer, 14 October 2026.
This fictional story is for education and reflection. It does not portray an event in Norman Washington Manley's life. Additionally this piece does not provide legal advice nor determine any practitioner's ethical conduct.
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