Mama Marley at home in Nine Miles, St Ann.

At the head chair of the dinner table in the small kitchen of her home in Nine Miles, St Ann, Cedella Booker leans her head to one side as she looks through a window at the people moving about outside. "Somebody out there to tell these nice people where the bathroom is if they need it?" she said to a young woman standing next to her. "Yes Mama," the woman replied.

"OK. That is very important, you know. We have to make sure that they are alright," Booker said.

She looks like the typical Jamaican grandmother with her head wrapped, a bright smile and a pleasant, but firm, voice. She's the late reggae star Bob Marley's mother, and as his fans worldwide celebrated the 63rd anniversary of his birth on February 6, Mama Marley, as she likes to be called, spent a while reflecting at the home in which she gave birth to the reggae icon, early one Tuesday morning, more than half a century ago.

Giving thanks

"Him born before day, you know. Two o' clock in the morning. Every year since his passing, I wake up at that time on his birthday. I just sit up in bed and read my Bible and give thanks to Rastafari for the blessing that I get on that day," she said, a glimmer in her eyes.

She struggled to raise her voice above the sound of a live band playing Marley's songs just outside. Hundreds of people were moving around, snapping pictures and gyrating to the music, at the place that has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in all of St Ann.

"Boy, we have a big crowd today, even though it big every day," Mama Marley said with a chuckle.

"It give me good feeling in my heart to see these people come here from all over the world. Bob did a lot for them, you know. He was a great man in their lives, so they come now, especially on his birthday, to show their love for him."

Outside, the line to enter Marley's mausoleum, which is on a hill behind the house, twists and turns for more than 30 feet.

Mama Marley's bosom bounces up and down as she chuckles. "Bob must be smiling when him see the crowd of people that love him," she said.

Direction of her life

Sixty-three years ago when 18-year-old Cedella Malcolm discovered she was pregnant, she knew her life was about to change forever. The Christian daughter of one of the most respected men in Nine Miles at the time, Cedella worried about the direction her life was about to take. She, however, says that the second the 6¹/2 lb baby boy came into the world, she knew he was going to be something special.

"Of course, I didn't know he was going to be a reggae king, but I knew he was a king from birth. It was a great moment, you know. I remember it clearly. I will never forget it. No mother will forget the birth of any of their children. It is the best time of their lives," she said.

Mama Marley can hardly show her face outside without being mobbed by fans of her son. Their eagerness to meet her can at times be overwhelming. One employee at the mausoleum told me that he has to stand guard near the house because if word was to get out that Mama Marley was inside, all hell would break loose.

"I don't mind though, you know. Bob deserves it, so it is very nice," she said.

Even as the world celebrated the icon's birthday, Mama Marley was reflective. "I just have to look at it and say that I am thankful that he is with his Father. I know he is. He is in a better place and somewhere watching what is going on. When I die I will be with him again," she said with a smile.

"But, you know, I don't get down at all. Bob tell me to forget my sorrows and dance. Forget even sickness and dance. Every little thing is going to be alright," she laughed.

Her favourite Bob Marley song is No Woman No Cry which, she says, gives her strength during difficult times.

"When I listen to that, it just lifts me up and make me feel good inside. There is a power to that song. I love all of his songs, but that one is special to me," said Mama Marley.

Hearty laugh

She's all of 81 years old now, but you'd never know it. Her laugh is hearty and her voice is strong. So strong, in fact, that she's thinking of recording another album. Yes, she dabbles in music too, and has released two albums, Awake Zion and Smilin' Island of Song. She's also starting a hot sauce business. In fact, she makes the hot sauce from peppers grown on her own farm in St Ann and boils and bottles the product right there in the kitchen of her now famous home.

When she's not in Jamaica, she's at her home in Florida which she says is nice, but lacks the natural mystic that blows through the air at home in rural St Ann.Cedella Booker died in her sleep in Florida on Tuesday night.

robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com