Nurse born on Christmas Day spreads spirit of the season

Despite being born on December 25, Jodi-Ann Archer, 32, doesn't get too worked up when celebrating her birthday.

"My siblings always say I don't do much on my birthday but because it is a public holiday and everybody is celebrating family time, I don't do much," Archer told THE WEEKEND STAR. "I don't want to say that because my birthday is on Christmas Day means I am extra special. I don't really walk around and say 'Oh, it is my birthday', or things like that."

But her inner circle refuses to let her downplay the celebrations. Archer, a registered nurse, grew up in Jeffery Town, St Mary. She said that her friends and family would ensure that her birthdays were very special.

"I usually get money, so everybody who knows that I was born on Christmas Day will give me money or gifts and I would put them away... basically the entire community always look forward to giving me something, because my grandmother would tell dem that it is my birthday," she recalled. Archer's father Ainsworth [now deceased] was born on December 24 and always treated their birthdays as one.

"My most vivid memory is we always had family dinner and because he had a business (grocery shop), he would share with the young people and friends in the community. Everyone still recognised our birthdays and he was gifted with alcoholic beverage and I was always gifted with money," she said.

Archer's mother Denise Martin-Reynolds said that persons are always excited whenever she tells persons that she has a child born on December 25.

"The nurses [at Port Maria Hospital in St Mary] were excited and helped to countdown during the delivery because of what the occasion meant," said Martin-Reynolds, who gave birth approximately 2 a.m. She described Archer as jovial, loving and kind, attributes that she says define the spirit of the season.

Archer, who now lives in Kingston, believes that being born on December 25 was divinely ordained and has used this conviction to spread love not only to her family and friends, but to everyone she meets.

"I am a human present wrapped up in love and gifted to my parents. I am always happy and cheerful, so I guess I have inherited the spirit of Christmas in my personality," she said.