Blessings and morning greetings to all my Chaguanas family and friends! Auntie Cheryl writing to you from my kitchen this Sunday morning, the breeze coming in through the louvre, the pot of sorrel on the stove, and the radio playing that new gospel from Pastor Winston that everybody have been sharing on the WhatsApp.

What a blessed Sunday! Let me tell you what is on my mind from the papers today.

The nurse-to-patient ratio — what a blessing!

Oh my, I read this and I was SO happy. Starting April 28, the new rule is six patients per nurse. SIX! Not twelve! Not fifteen! Six!

This is going to be such a wonderful thing for our nurses and for our patients. My niece Samantha, she a nurse at the hospital in San Fernando, she been telling me for years how she running from patient to patient, one nurse looking after fifteen beds at a time, and she come home and she so tired she can barely kiss her children goodnight. Now she going to have only six patients. SIX! She going to be able to actually talk to the patients, actually check on them, actually care for them the way nurses are trained to care.

Thanks to President of the Nursing Association Idi Stuart for pushing this! Thanks to the Minister of Health! Thanks to the government for doing the right thing! This is the kind of news that makes me proud to be a Trini.

And to all the nurses — GOD BLESS YOU, sweethearts. You are angels. You carrying this country on your backs and now finally somebody noticing.

The new Mortgage Bank mortgages — I love this!

Trinidad and Tobago Mortgage Bank is launching three new mortgage products after doing research on what modern homebuyers actually need. I love this because I have three grandchildren who are in their twenties and they all want to buy their own home eventually. The old mortgage products were designed for a different generation. These new ones — I hear they more flexible, more accommodating of younger buyers with different income situations — this is exactly what the next generation needs.

Kristin Ramesar and Wendy Scoon-Huggins from TTMB announcing it at the Hilton — very professional, very smart ladies. This is the Trinidad I believe in. Professional women leading financial institutions, making products that actually serve the people. Wonderful!

Saddam Hosein gym opening — progress in San Juan!

MP Saddam Hosein opened a Raw Fitness Health Club in Aranguez. Now I must say, I do not exercise the way I should at my age (Auntie Cheryl will not lie to you, I am not seeing the gym this year and maybe not next year either), but I am SO happy to see this kind of development in San Juan. A new gym! A business opening! Jobs being created! The MP himself using the chest press machine at the opening!

This is exactly what the MP should be doing — supporting new business, encouraging healthy living, being visible in the community. San Juan is blessed to have representation that show up. When my daughter was living there, she always said the MP was a man who returned calls. That matters. That really matters.

Cohobblopot returning — wait, that is Barbados, let me stay focused

(Auntie Cheryl getting ahead of herself. Cohobblopot is the Bajan festival. I got excited reading the other newspapers. Let me come back to Trinidad.)

The energy talks with Venezuela — we going to work it out!

The government is working on cross-border energy projects with Venezuela. There are some challenges, yes, there are always challenges, but Minister Ernesto Kesar and his team are meeting with people in Suriname during Caribbean Energy Week, they engaging with all the right partners, and I believe Trinidad will come out of this stronger.

We are an energy country. We know this business. The gas is there, the expertise is there, the relationships are being rebuilt. Give it time. The government will make it happen.

The Carifta athletes making us proud

Our Carifta athletes in Grenada have been representing T&T beautifully at the Kirani James Athletics Stadium. 100-plus members of the Trinidad and Tobago Track and Field Supporters Association made the trip to support them. That kind of community backing, the parents and grandparents travelling to Grenada to cheer our young athletes — that is what makes a nation. Keep going, children!

The electric vehicle market — buy from authorized dealers only!

Kerri-Ann Seerattan from BYD T&T is warning people to buy electric vehicles only from authorized dealers. This is sensible advice. The EV market is growing and there are always some who will try to cut corners. Protect yourself. Buy from real dealers with real warranties. Auntie Cheryl is not in the market for an EV (my Toyota from 2011 still driving just fine, thank you), but if my grandson asks me about buying one, I will tell him what Kerri-Ann said: authorized dealers only.

What I wish every Trini

Trinidad is a blessed country. We have problems, yes. Every country has problems. But we also have nurses getting better working conditions. We have mortgage products designed for the next generation. We have MPs opening businesses and supporting their communities. We have young athletes making us proud at Carifta. We have an energy sector that will find its feet again.

Today, I am going to church, I am going to make curry duck with the bhagi from my garden, I am going to call my sister in Tunapuna and catch up, and I am going to thank God for another blessed Sunday in beautiful Trinidad.

May your day be filled with peace, my loves. May your pots be full and your families close.

— Auntie Cheryl, Chaguanas