AS TOLD TO BC PIRES

My name is Peter Ray Blood and I was not supposed to live.

At my birth, the doctors gave my father a choice: my mother or me. I was born (dangerously) premature.

I did live, though, and went on to a near half-century long career in journalism.

I am a product of Laventille and now live close to Lapeyrouse Cemetery.

I am the eldest of five children, four sisters.

I have been married twice. But I am single now.

I have seven biological children, six daughters and one son, plus two adopted daughters.

I have truly been blessed.

Broken marriages do have a debilitating toll on family life.

I have maintained a wonderful relationship with most of my children. I love each of my children equally. Including the estranged ones.

My extended family, the Bloods of Mayaro and the Goddards of Barbados, is enormous. One uncle had over 30 acknowledged children and my father's family seems to be related to all of Mayaro. Including the Sobions, Massys, Richardsons, Peterses, Riverses and Whiskeys.

My scores of cousins include musician Pelham Goddard, former government ministers Keith Sobion and Emmanuel Hosein and the calypsonian Gypsy.

My education was at Moulton Hall Methodist School and Queen's Royal College.

[caption id="attachment_904727" align="alignnone" width="722"] - Mark Lyndersay[/caption]

And tertiary-level education via IBM, studying computer science.

I believe that there is an afterlife and our essence lives on in our descendants after we have left this plane.

In my belief system, we stay connected to our ancestors, and pay homage to them.

I believe in God and that all humans, are connected, regardless of religious faiths, (those) manmade entities.

At 12, I wanted to be a priest, (like) my friend. now Canon Winston Joseph. in Miami.

I got turned off the more I became involved in church.

Around 15, I dropped Caribbean history and began studying African history (leading me to) the African ancestral faith, Orisha, more familiarly Shango. Spirituality is the essence of man.

LGBTQ people are entitled to full human rights (like) anyone else.

(But) the rights, as ordained by religion, may not be the same as human and civil rights.

I believe that nothing is permanent but we're all here for a brief time. And then we are gone.

Man has always manipulated power, influence, science, technology and knowledge to subdue weaker beings.

I don't think that God has anything to do with this. It's all about man's wickedness to his brother.

At my age, I truthfully do not worry about actually dying, but more of having to suffer as I exit this plain.

I have a deep phobia of flying, so every flight is a living nightmare.

One of my fears is the aircraft crashing and my body never being found, to give my family and loved ones closure.

My job has taken me to Italy, the USA, Canada, South America and across the Caribbean.

I have judged Carnival in New York, Miami, Jamaica and Barbados.

I have judged every TT cultural expression, including calypso, pan, para