Marriage Has Teeth and Teeth Have Toothache: A Colloquial Expression Used in the Island of Jamaica

By Eglantine Franco

This an honest gut wrenching narrative of transparent truths about marriage. With long life, experiences, sharing stories with friends, relatives, colleagues, parents and children; There is a great deal of information that I amassed regarding this God ordained institution called marriage.
Many individuals embark on the journey of being married totally oblivious of the road that they may or may not travel.
Some people feel and say “they will learn from their mistakes.”
What I want to reiterate in this book as has been declared by other books written on the subject of marriage is; one, that “Marriage is not a bowl of cherries”. Two that it is not for the “faint of heart”
Nevertheless, with a lot of patience, love, endurance, and long suffering anyone considering taking the journey down the road to marriage having read my book will not have to travel blindfolded.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669815204

Eglantine Franco

THE AUTHOR RECEIVED HER DOCTORATE IN BIOLOGY FROM NEW YORK UNIVERSITY AND IS CURRENTLY A FULL PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY WITH THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK. SHE IS MARRIED WITH TWO DAUGHTERS. SHE IS COMMITTED TO MENTORING AND HELPING STUDENTS ACHIEVE THEIR PROFESSIONAL GOALS.

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Copyright © 2022 by Eglantine Franco.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from

the KJV Classic Reference Bible, © 1983 by Zondervan Corporation.

Rev. date: 05/04/2022

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Chapter 1     Marriage

Chapter 2     Wedding Plans

Chapter 3     Expectations

Chapter 4     Marriage and Family

Chapter 5     Infidelity

Chapter 6     Jealousy, Competition, Disappointment, and Mistrust

Chapter 7     The Mistress/Girlfriend

Chapter 8     The Influence of Sexual Infidelity in Families

Chapter 9     Polygamy

Chapter 10   Love

Chapter 11   Benefits of Marriage

Chapter 12   The Blessing of Children

Chapter 13   Love Poems

About the Author

DEDICATION

This book is written in honor and memory of my

dear mother, Mrs. Eglantine M. Gordon.

Whenever we (my two sisters and I) would call her

for advice in our marriage, she would say,

Marriage has teeth, and teeth have toothache.

This is the origin of the book title.

Rest in peace, Mother Dear. We love you.

CHAPTER 1

Marriage

Men have died from time to time and worms have eaten them but not for love.

—Shakespeare, As You Like It

Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favour of the Lord.

—Proverbs 18:22

For this cause shall a man leave his mother and father and be joined to his wife and they two shall be one flesh.

—Ephesians 5:31

Melita was a black woman from the island of Jamaica and Jose a mulatto from Panama. Melita’s native language was English. Jose’s native language was Spanish. Melita worked as a nurse in New York. She was recruited from Jamaica by the US government to come and work in New York City because of the shortage of nurses in New York.

A year after coming to the United States, she met Jose. He was unemployed for about six months and was staying with relatives in Brooklyn.

Jose became seriously ill one day and had to be taken to Flower and Fifth Hospital, where he was attended to by Melita. She took excellent care of him, and for that, he was extremely grateful. After he recovered and was ready to be discharged from the hospital, Jose asked Melita if they could keep in touch. They exchanged phone numbers.

Melita, not having met a Hispanic from Panama, was fascinated by his Spanish accent. She recalled that her father told her of his experience when he visited Panama to work on the Panama Canal. Melita always wanted to visit Panama but never had the opportunity. Now she had met a native from that country.

Jose seized the opportunity to get together with Melita and offered to help her to learn Spanish. This would give him a chance to meet her more frequently in the city.

This sounded like a tremendous idea, especially since Melita was very lonely having come to the United States without family. She resided in the living quarters provided by the hospital. Of course, Melita worked long hours during the week and made it clear to Jose that she would only be available on Fridays or Saturdays. Jose was very persistent and certainly did not mind the restriction.

Manhattan has many Hispanic restaurants, so it was always convenient and exciting to find a good restaurant.

Having worked long hours during the week, Melita actually looked forward to meeting Jose and found the time spent with him very relaxing and an actual treat.

About a month after they started dating on weekends, Jose suggested that he found a night club on Fifth and Thirteenth Street in Manhattan where they played merengue, salsa, and other types of music.

Before long, Jose and Melita were spending their weekends dining out and dancing into the night. Jose did not own a car at that time,