Behold, children are
a heritage from the Lord, the
fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand
of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them . . . . – Psalm 127: 3-5

TODAY the Baltram household in President Kennedy Drive, St Michael, will be bursting at the seams.

That's because everyone will be coming together to celebrate Joyce Baltram, the matriarch of the family who gave birth to 18 children.

She had her first child at the age of 16 and the last at 37 years of age.

Now 75, the elderly woman has no regrets about having so many children even though she raised many of them on her own.

"I had one of them every year, no kidding. I had them fast, one after the next. Somebody told me once, 'Girl you won't keep off your nest, it gine carry you'.
But I had them and I'm still here and that body
dead and gone long. The children now doing for me," she told the SUNDAY SUN.

Of her 18 children, seven died; three of those were stillborn. Eleven are still alive. Her eldest child is 55 years old while the youngest is 38.

Joyce has so many grandchildren, she keeps track by writing any new additions down on a piece of paper to remind her just how many she has to date. So far, there are 39 grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren, with another two on the way.

Many of her children and grands live around her in the close-knit neighbourhood.

Granddaughter Crystal Boyce had this
to say about Joyce, whom everyone calls "Ma".

"Ma is a very nice person. From the time I was small she took care of me. She is always there for us. Everyone out here looks out for her because she
is a good woman. I love her."

Though Joyce had 18 children in her day,
she wouldn't recommend it for any parent today.

"Things are just too expensive now. Plus, my mother helped me raise them, God rest her in her grave. It was different raising children in those days. We didn't buy all these expensive pampers you see mothers buying today. I used to use flour bags or I would tear up my old dresses to use as diapers," she said.

"I had two of my children at the St Michael infirmary and the last was born in hospital.
That was it, all the rest were born home. My mother used to take my babies mostly. She just learned
from my grandmother how to do it.

"The old-time people when they took in with the baby used to take a dose of castor oil and egg white, lick them up and drink it. That would help ease out
the baby. Now they don't do anything so. And don't think there were any painkillers. I didn't take no pain killers, I had to bear the pain. Now everything change," Joyce shared.

Like her mother, she worked many years as
a hawker, selling in Broad Street, The City, and at Westbury Primary School. She did a few other jobs
in between to help support her children, like digging marl holes and working as a maid. Sometimes
she made as little as $3 a month but she had
to make it "stretch" as far as possible.

"You can't tell the young people nowadays to work for that. But you used to get nuff things before for a little bit of money. Not now though, it is the opposite," she said.

Joyce was married but her husband died 17 years ago so he had to keep working. Only the "last set"
of her children are his, she pointed out.

She taught her children the value of hard work and self-respect. Many of them are employed and one even runs his own bakery. Most of them also have their own homes.

However, she said, one or two took their own wayward paths, but Joyce believes she did her best and could do nothing more.

She sees a vast difference in the parents of today compared to previous generations.

"They don't set good examples. They are doing
their drugs and they do as they like so you can't
put them with the ones from before.

"Young parents also don't take advice from us older ones. You tell them one thing but they do another. You know these youngsters must have their freedom, they have the children but still want to go out partying.
I am a good mother because of my mother. I learned from her and it would do them well if the young
people learnt from us older ones," she said.

Motherhood has certainly been a blessing to Joyce even though it has had its challenges over the years.

"Once in a while the grandchildren can get presumptuous, but I enjoy being a mother and grandmother," she said, flashing a smile.