RE: To those who will meet in the shadow of Lady Liberty.

2011-Jun-16-2307Hrs

Mausicans:

I have only been to one re-union so far, the Tobago one in 07. I had hoped for Grenada, but funds were not there, same with New York. Once, I would have gone, and put it on a credit card, now I have learnt, in my 70th year, to be more fiscally cautious.

If there is any one among you who has not been to New York before, I hope you will enjoy its smoggy, dusty beauty, its noise and excitement.

If you want to visit a couple of out of the way places, try The Cloisters at Washington Heights, its a recreation of a medieval monastery, and it was the first place where I saw a nativity scene with one of the three wise men being African. The set is from the 13 or 14 century, I believe, long before racism infested the world.

The other religious site I would recommend is the Cathedral of St. John the Devine, the Anglican church in Harlem that stand across from Columbia University at 133d and Lennox Ave. The church, perhaps the largest in North America, can accomodate twelve weddings without one disturbing the other. The church has an interesting history. Begun about 1850, when Harlen was white, it continues to be built up to today. A stone mason who came out from England about forty years ago to work on the building, noticed the graffitti creeping up on buildings all around. He decided that if he hired the neighbourhood young men to work on the church, they would have something meaningful to do. So, he began a class in stone masonry.Young "angry" African Americans learning the ancient art of stone carving from an Englishman. The vandals have never sprayed the church, it was part of them, you see. The white Americans fled to the suburbs, but Anglicans do not sell a church, so the cathedral has survived and is a magnificent structure .I once met a guy who SAID he had gone to Columbia University and I asked him about the cathedral. He had never seen it. I knew he had not gone there. You cannot "not see' the Cathedral of St John the Devine.

Have fun in the heat. Keep our beloved country in your prayers, as I do daily.

If God spares life and limb I'd be in Trinidad for the 2013 get together, and stay on for Emancipation, something else I have missed since 2007.

Be blessed.

Linda E. Edwards-Romain