Circular No 469

Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I. 

Caracas, 30 of October 2010 No.469

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Dear Friends, 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akJRATT4ZaI&feature=related 

Another of the short films taken by Kazim Abasali, please go to his WEB page for the The Abbey School Alumni.

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Sad news on Michael Chow

From: Nigel P. Boos  

Laz,

Perhaps you've already heard, but in case you have not, I have been informed that Michael Chow (Class of 1971) has died today.

It is very difficult to see our Old Boys slowly leaving us, but we rely on our Christian hope for a life eternal in the presence of Almighty God, where (1 Cor 2:9) "as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him’ .

Let us hope and pray that our friend, Michael, will soon enter into the glory which Our Lord has promised to those who love him.

Nigel  

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On 2010-09-28, at 6:12 PM, Nigel P. Boos wrote: 

Neil,

I'm very sorry to hear the news about Michael, and I pray that he will be in no pain in his last moments.

If he is a Catholic, please remember to ask a priest or deacon to administer the Sacrament of the Sick.

Nigel P. Boos 

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On 2010-09-28, at 5:50 PM, Glen Mckoy wrote: 

Neil,

I am so sorry to hear this, however, I understand the situation, well you should keep Ladislao and Nigel informed, so the boys from his time if you know names, we can contact, when the time comes.  

I hope you are o.k, ??

best regards, Glen.

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From: nchacha57@aol.com

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:32:51 -0400 

Glen,  

Chow is going down fast, any day soon he will pass, can’t eat or even talk. 

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From: kazim abasali  

Hi Abbey Brothers,

Yes, indeed we are having a period of mourning for our group.

Recently it was Renwick, and then Kitty and now Michael.

Only a few days ago, Neil Charles and I had a very long, long telephone conversation about our Mount brothers, memories of school days and he did share with me that Michael was down and was not communicating as much.

Sincerest condolences to his family and our thoughts and prayers are also with them and our group as well.

Let our love for one another lift us and continue to keep us together.

Blessings to all.....Kazim 

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From: mckoy43glen@hotmail.com

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 18:16:19 +0000 

Thank you Salah, I will pass on to Neil, you guys were on the same team, it don`t get any closer than that,

Take care my brother,

Best regards

Glen. 

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Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:02:07 -0400

From: salah@steelpanplus.com 

My sincere condolences to Michael Chow's relatives and friends.

I also received an update from Poggy.

I remember Michael as a good Soccer player.

I was also a part of that team that Poggy mentioned.

We all came from the creator and we all have to return......

We remember the memories of our good friends who have gone on before us.

Regards to all

Salah 

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Dear Poggy,

Thank you for getting the news to us,

Neil did contact us a few days ago and prepared us for this moment.

This has been a difficult year for us, as another brother departs.

May God bless his soul; our prayers are with all his family.

I will inform as many as I can, when arrangements are made please inform Ladislao and Nigel, to share with all.

Best regards

Glen McKoy. 

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Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2010 18:16:58 -0400 

Hi Glen

Sorry to be the bearer of sad news but another one of the boys have passed

Michael was a border who attended Abbey in the early '70s a nice guy played football as a defensive midfielder on the squad with Nevil Tennia, Garth Alexander, Phillip Jordan and others

Was very good at Maths and Physics, after school he married Neil Charles's sister but they separated after a while.

He owned and operated a bakery in Sangre Grande his hometown

We haven't received any funeral arrangements as yet but will inform as I receive info there should be a lot f guys who follow your web site who might know him so please inform

BLESSINGS POGS 

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I am including these few emails, just to let you know that there are ALUMNI who like to debate on the matter of religion, some are moderate, thank God. 

5/03/10

 glen mckoy 

Nigel,

I mean over time, when the church said that the earth was flat, is that Christ, when the church said  that women must be burnt to death, because they did something that made them a witch, when many priest who abuse boys, for years upon years and never see a day in jail, is this Christ,

This is what I mean, manmade laws, custom made for themselves, once upon a time even popes had wives and children and then the laws were changed.

this is what I mean, I read my bible and I see where many great men of God went wrong and follow false Gods also, no where have I ever read Christ saying take another man life in his name, yet our church have killed millions in his name. 

I will stay close to his teachings, he spread his religion, who is spreading it now, we cannot even get young men to become priest, why is this when people still believe in Christ,

South America has the most Catholics in the world, why?

Even Christ questioned his religion as a Jew, was he not right to question the way man was changing God laws in his times, and all the wrong that was being committed in his father's house, the religion of David and Solomon,

Was Christ not following the word of God, he too was judged for his views, for criticizing the holy men of his day, about the religion he was born into, for this he was crucified.  

We as Catholics should be multiplying how come we are becoming less and less every day, as a group, this church started on the best teaching, now it is crumbling from within. 

Not the followers who are breaking this church, but the administration within,

Nigel, I live in a place where many boys were abused, take Newfoundland for example, the people say they still believe in their God, but will never go back in these building where 1,000's of boys have been abused for too long, not one priest went to jail,

This is where I am coming from, are these people wrong, they still follow Christ teachings, but I guess they are wrong, just like I am, Nigel I have many friends that were abused, by these holy men of not my God, or my Christ, they must worship something else.

I am sorry I really don't like to talk about religion, for its a never ending subject, but please don't judge me harsh, I live in a world, here in Nova Scotia with so many empty catholic churches, my friends said  use to be good to go to church once, until the dirt started to come out. 

I mean thousands that have been abused, and I am still a Catholic.

Anyhow, I do hope you understand my point of view, just a little, I am not right, but do question the organization of our day.

Thank you for your email on this, you made a very good point, according to your email, I would say I am wrong, if we went to the word of the letter. 

Well I am wrong if this is the word. 

You are correct in the true form of devotion.

Best Regards, Glen... 

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Subject: DALAI LAMA ON YOUR RELIGION

From: nigelboos@eagles-wings.ca

Date: Mon, 3 May 2010 00:06:49 -0400 

Glen,

Please allow me to comment on a statement which you have made in your last email to Che Che. 

You say: I am a catholic from a baby, but I have grown beyond that as a catholic, I don't follow all institutional laws made by men, but stay close to the teachings of Christ himself" 

Now, my understanding is this: 

1. Christ established a Church, and gave authority to Peter (Matt 16:18) to bind and to loose (Matt 16:19) “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 

2. Christ ALSO said, "The person who listens to you listens to me, and the person who rejects you rejects me. The person who rejects me rejects the one who sent me." (Luk 10:16) 

I conclude from this that by the AUTHORITY given to him, Peter (and his successors) have the power and the right to speak in God's name and to make laws. Anyone refusing to follow these laws, or who therefore rejects them, basically, rejects Christ. 

I cannot understand, therefore, what you mean when you say that you "stay close" to the teachings of Christ himself. Either you accept the laws instituted by his Church (you call them 'institutional laws made by men') or you reject them. If you reject them, then, according to Jesus Christ, you reject him.  

Is that how you see things? 

Nigel P. Boos 

(The extremes in religion are not good, either orthodox or atheist, most people are in the middle, we are not made of the same mould, ed.)

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5/02/10

Glen mckoy

mckoy43glen@hotmail.com 

Che Che,

I also agree with you, you know here where I live, every Buddhist have a trust fund, and most are from California, 80% are very rich, so I do know more than you may think of this religion,

I am a catholic from a baby, but I have grown beyond that as a catholic,

I don't follow all institutional laws made by men, but stay close to the teachings of Christ himself, and of course I listen to others who have positive messages, for the betterment of humanity as a whole, they too have a voice, as they search for the Light.

Che Che, we are not a church, we are a Club from a Catholic school, don't you think almost 95% of this club, feels exactly like you, but we don't have to reaffirm who we are, we are Knights,

Che Che, we fellow in the footsteps of a Monk, who followed in the footsteps of Christ, as you should know, every single original Knight walked upon that summit they called, "White Stones",  

the first thing they did was to kneel, bow their heads and pray in a circle, as they made you a Knight, all Knights were boarders, but not all boarders were Knights of "White Stones", and only a few from Days, I speak only as a Knight and represent only the Knights of "White Stones", who walks amongst you, at all reunions' and gatherings, the difference from a Knight of "White Stones", and the Knights of the Abbey School, is a Knight of "White Stones", is an inner guard of the realm, and has pledged to serve and protect, in honour and loyalty for the rest of their lives, this Club, The Alumni, The Circular, The List of Great Minds, from any harm, from outside or within, these Knights of White Stones, are defenders of their Faith. 

Che Che, I hope this will help you understand, I will get a speech from some of the Knights, but that’s o.k., only a few small secrets did I reveal, we are so secret and so quiet for so many decades, even up to now many mount boys, do not even know that there was always a Club, since 1944. 

I hope you will never ever have to ask that question again, the Faith of this Club you belong to.

Yours faithfully, until the end.

God Bless you my friend,

Best regards Glen McKoy.   

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Date: Sat, 1 May 2010 21:56:33 -0400

Subject: Re: FW: DALAI LAMA ON YOUR RELIGION

From: reglaw@gmail.com 

I agree ... HOWEVER ... what is transmitted in the message is wrongly interpreted ... The Lama DOES BELIEVE IN RELIGIONS .. read His Words !!! ... let us NOT fool ourselves ...   

As far as I am concerned, my dear .. dear ... brothers .. I AM A CATHOLIC ...and so far ... in 62 years of existence .. I have not found ONE SINGLE REASON to stop from being just that ...  

A CATHOLIC !!! 

I thank GOD for that !!! ... and that is my respectful testimony for all of you from the bottom of my heart ...  

Rafael .... CheChe ... 

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Now to the photos. 

Ladislao Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,

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Photos:

57UN0001GOSF,down hill path from the school

10LK3405EDIMSB, Who remembers where this marble sculpture was located in our time?

10LK3407TRANSPORT, van used to take the yoghurt to the shops

55CJ0001CLASS1957, I have made a change in the date that the photo was taken.

Circular No 468

Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I. 

Caracas, 23 of October 2010 No.468

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Dear Friends,

Here is one of the contributions of Kazim Abasali, nice report, hope you enjoy it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8E8DCuC-MA&feature=player_embedded

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In my last Circular I ran the comments by Kazim Abasali who is our WEB manager.

I have just remembered that maybe he should insert the latest Circular in his WEB page so that the ALUMNI can look and be able to read the last Circular that has been sent as soon as it is sent.

Naturally this Circular would be replaced as soon as a new one is published.

This way there would be no competition with the Blog that Don is keeping updated, because the WEB would only keep one Circular outstanding, and if any ALUMNI would like to go to old ones, then there would be a LINK to Don´s Blog.

Any comments on the idea??? 

Also I am including a couple of emails as an example of what happens when we do not control the email addresses in our FW.

Please check before sending !

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3 oct 2010

Cornel de Freitas 

Hi 'Edward Lloyd':

I was not aware that my correspondence was reaching you, because I do not have your email address, so therefore, I could not I have forwarded anything to 'your' E-mail address.

Nevertheless, I hope that I have not in any way offended you, and sincerely apologise if I inadvertently did.

Someone in the 'chain' must have 'forwarded' my correspondence on to you.

I did attend The Abbey School, Mount St. Benedict during the years as is stated below, and look to all the 'young men' that attended before and after, as 'brothers'.

With my Blessings to you and yours,

Respectfully,

Cornel A. de Freitas. 

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Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2010 12:40:18 +0100

From: edwardlloyd@yahoo.co.uk

Subject: Recent correspondence MSB 

Glen, Cornel

I don't know you two gentlemen personally and I find that recently communications of a rather terse nature have been coming to my in box due to my MSB connection.

I don't have the time to read all this rubbish and ask that you two gentlemen remove my name from your address book.

Kindest regards

Ed Lloyd 

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From: av_knaggs@hotmail.com

Subject: RE: Kitty

Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:10:27 -0400 

Dear Glen.

Have all those Ex Mount Students (after my time) ever heard of the fabulous word "simplicity'?

I personally am so fed up of seeing time pass, on the subject of Miss Kitty, as time really is of the essence when you have reached such a wonderful age.

Has the Association given her the money collected?

Have we sent her a Blessed Card of Praise and thanks for her contributions to those she taught and served?

Had the Abbot been contacted as to what would be the most appropriate gift for someone at that very tender age?

Has someone even asked Kitty herself what would she like most?

Time is of the essence and action is needed.

I am not fully aware as to what has been done, and the phraseology of these two letters are so tied up in creativity, that downright simplicity is obviously overpowered by verbosity. (my spelling may be terrible).

All I know is that the Good Lord, may well act before we do, and then what?

I know Kitty, I love Kitty; but for God's sake let us bring this whole matter to some sort of closure before it is too late.

My humble view of this situation.

God bless us all.

Scroongie  

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From: mckoy43glen@hotmail.com

Subject: RE: Kitty

Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:37:59 +0000 

My Dear Brothers,

The past few years we have walked on the hard road, this has all happened since the great year, 2000. 

The return and reunion of the brothers, from near and far.    

A few have gone the extra mile and dedicated a great portion of their personal time, in their lives to the realm of this Club, the Alumni.   

In saying this, I am not asking Nigel or Ladislao, to take this on also, but to oversee it as other brothers pick up the torch, for they have already done so much, which we will be addressing in time.  

Ladislao went to Trinidad, he opened up a road to better communications, and contacts, in good faith, which we will have to call upon if we decide, to continue in a grand finale, for this great teacher, and grand lady, "Miss Kitty".

We can do only so much from afar, this leg of the project must be completed, from whence it came, Trinidad. 

We would like to get the blessings, and co-operation from all concerning this request, this Lady is in her 90's she gives us so much grace, and sustaining something that still lives in the spirit of the Realm, The Club. 

Now, should we attempt to undergo this impossible mission, (as every other mission, we have taken on so far).

We will require the best of our circles that circles the Castle, on the Isle. of Trini, under the sun.  

In association of all, a selection of brothers should be called upon, to represent us, on this Historical Event. 

If we require a lawyer, our local chapter may be of assistance, I believe we need to know, what the exact requirements are, to fulfil this request, successfully by the grace of God, what must be, will be.

As history is being written onto the Stones, we all have our parts to play, if we can, in some intrinsic way.

I must thank all my brothers, who started this quest for a meaning, in whatever we were going to do, always with the respect of the entire Alumni, something to be proud about. 

Long live the Mount.

This is only a suggestion of a few brothers, it’s only in their imagination, but it’s an idea, let's talk about it. 

Best Regards,

Glen McKoy.   

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Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 12:33:31 -0500

Subject: Re: Kitty

From: reglaw@gmail.com 

Hi Guys !  

I have to admit that you guys touched my heart man !!! ....  when you do things like this.

I think it is very noble of you guys to pursue this blessing for our dear Kitty ... who more than her deserves to be granted any award of any kind to make her feel happy???

Even though she is so humble that she would not even pretend it. 

I am moved knowing that Glen Evelyn did his due diligence in trying to find information regarding this process. 

I guess all I can do is contribute with ideas ... so here it goes: 

1 - This awards and granted by the Vatican (right?) The Pope's office? .... by intercession of the Archdioceses ... in this case the Archdioceses of Trinidad & Tobago.   

2 - The person /candidate to receive the award must be "sponsored" ... in this case Kitty has all the sponsors she needs ...she has the Abbot, the whole Monks Congregation of Mt. St. Benedict, The Alumni of The Abbey School, testimonies of her acts of Christian heroism are abundant and meritorious ..... so ... what is there to do ??? 

3 - The Abbot has the FIRST MOVE ... WE NEED TO TALK TO THE ABBOT .. WRITE HIM A LETTER ... RING A BELL .. I DON'T KNOW .. WHATEVER IS NECESSARY TO DO ... LET IT BE DONE !!!! ... and we will get the rock moving ...   

Let me know what you think ... has any initiative of this kind been initiated in any way? Am I "out of date" ? ...  

CheChe .... Rafa  

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2010/3/6 Glen Mckoy <mckoy43glen@hotmail.com> 

Hello Nigel, 

I was referring to this email we got awhile back, from Glen Evelyn, this was at the bottom of the last email, hope you see what I meant, thank you for asking,

Best regards 

Glen.  

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Date: Mon, 9 Nov 2009 15:49:51 -0800

From: gevelyn1@bellsouth.net 

It is currently given for distinguished service to the church by lay people and clergy.^[3]

It is the highest medal that can be awarded to the laity by the Papacy.^[4]

I was told by the Catholic Church in Florida that we can get this easily for Miss Marcus.

Let’s try Glen 

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From: Don Mitchell, CBE QC [mailto:idmitch@anguillanet.com]

Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2010 1:16 PM

Subject: OK Abbey Old Boys Online Forum is up, please join and post 

Hi John,

Kazim Absali started a website that we should all visit at least once: http://www.msbaatt.com/. 

It has been pretty dormant for some time; I suspect since so few people visit it or responded to Kazim's cris de coeur.

I also started a Google Groups site several years ago for people to comment on photographs on Ladislao's Circulars: http://groups.google.com/group/abbey-school-mount-st-benedict?lnk  (my password is 112mitch)

But, not much came of it.

Hope yours lasts longer!

Don 

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On 7/17/2010 11:16 AM, John A Gioannetti wrote:  

Domain: http://abbeyoldboys.freeforums.org (MUST click link above first)

As soon as the following people join, I will grant them moderator rights

Nigel

Don

Jon

CheChe

Ladislao 

My role will be purely Technical

Shaun is also very Tech Savy, so I'll give him my Creator Rights, so he can do anything

I have never done an online forums before,

I just have about 5 min experience, so please be patient with me on technical issues.

John 

PS. Pass this link to other Old Boys as its open to all former inmates sorry Freudian Slip students of Abbey/MSB, The Priest, Teachers etc. 

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American Boys

From: Nigel P. Boos nigelboos@eagles-wings.ca

 Dear Elspeth and Richard,

Great idea.

Let's try.

I'm sending this msg to the OB's from the period 1945-1950.

We'll see what the seine hauls in.

All you Old OB's: Richard O'Connor is posing you a question.

Can anyone help to throw some light on the matter for us? 

What was the family name of Tom, Dick and Harry, three American boys who studied at the Mount while their dad was stationed at Ft. Reid in Wallerfield? (I have photographs of a Tom Turner, but no mention of a Richard or Harold Turner.

There was also another American boy, named Peter Tarr, whose father donated a lot of equipment from the U.S. base in Chaguaramas, as I understand it, after WWII, when the soldiers were returning to the States.) 

I would also appreciate if you could answer these two additional questions for me: 

Does anyone remember whether Harold La Borde was ever a student at MSB? (Harold and his wife, Kwailan became famous as a result of their circumnavigation of the planet a number of years ago, for which, I believe, he was awarded the Trinity Cross. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_La_Borde, 

Does anyone remember whether Leo De Gale was ever a student at the Mount? (He later became Governor General of Grenada, but has since died.) R.I.P. 

Nigel P. Boos 

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On 1-Oct-09, at 9:02 PM, Elspeth O'Connor wrote: 

Nigel,

I was wondering that now your subscription is so far and wide whether you could ask if anyone knows the names of the three American Boys who were at Mount St. Benedict with Richard in the early years. 

All Richard can remember is that they were called Tom, Dick (Richard) and Harry and their father was at the American Base in Wallerfield and he, the father, took pictures of the College from an aeroplane, which were among the first to be taken and published of the College. 

Now with Facebook, Twitter etc. (none of which I understand or am a member of) you may be able to find out some history about the Mount if you can discover their surnames. 

Cheers. 

Elspeth 

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Now to the photos. 

Ladislao Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,

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Photos:

57IF0005PLAY, UNKNOWN and Isaias Farcheg in a theatre play

60NB0101DDV, Daniel de Verteuil

09SC0012TFELDO, Terence Ferreira and Leslie Dórnelas

10LK3399LANDSLIDE, Another view of the land slide octo.2010

Circular No 467

Newsletter for the Alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I. 

Caracas, 16 of October 2010 No.467

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Dear Friends, 

In this issue I am asking you to make an effort to help our friend Kazim Abasali in his effort to keep the WEB page, not only with articles but with financial support, specially the yearly expenses.

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...6 Oct 2010

From: kazim abasali  

Hi Ladislao,

Thank you for your response.

I wish your trip to TT to be a fruitful one.

And I look forward to working more closely with you to support you.

Blessings to you and your family dear friend......

Kazim 

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On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 8:47 AM,

ladislao kertesz <kertesz12@yahoo.com> wrote: 

Dear Kazim,

I have not answered sooner, but I have read your letters.

Thank you for your comments,

I shall be travelling tomorrow to TT and with all the preparations and all, I have not had time to write you as I should.

As I told you long time ago, all efforts are appreciated and we should cooperate with each other.

But, each of us should continue with our "pet hobby" that is, do as we feel and cooperate with the ALUMNI.

Until the Association is not ready, with some finances, to hire a permanent person, maybe Chris??, it is difficult to consolidate the gains in a routine manner.

I shall be more extensive in a future mailing, and promise to comment on you mailings, but this is to let you know that I have received your emails.

God bless

Ladislao 

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From: kazim abasali <kazim.asaatt@gmail.com>

Sent: Tue, October 5, 2010 10:40:07 AM 

Hi Ladislao,

Hope all is well.

This email is to let you know that I too agree with Don that you are, and have been the one person keeping this Abbey group alive, by the sharing of emails in your circulars.

And I want to continue to support you as much as I can, for the website was created with this in mind.

When I met Don in Trinidad, he made certain to let me know to give my support to what you were already doing as well as Nigel.

No one can take from what is already established by you, by your dedication and hard work over the many, many years.

And you stand so very tall above the rest of us for keeping this group together for such a very long time.

And so my work with you and Don and Nigel is to support you in all that I do.

I will be working on the photos by having them identified as you did, and adding names and dates as best as we can as Don told me do.

As I incorporate things I will keep you informed of what is happening.

The Mt. St. Benedict Abbey group formed on Facebook is also to get more photos and information from the boys to add to the work you are already doing.

For instance, naming persons on the photos by means of tagging.

This will make it easier for us to identify boys in the photos and add to the website.

In addition, while I was in Trinidad, I visited with Winston Kerry many times, and he was instrumental in sharing with me scores of photos from the Mount days and also of reunions.

I will look into my files and send you the big files to add to the circulars.

And any support I can further give you please let me know.

I am here to support the work you do, and the website is a credit to what you do and have already done.

Finally, after experiencing some data loss with my old computer and hard drive, I purchased a new system and I am transferring files, photos, etc.

I am now able to concentrate on the website and support you more.

Continue to take care, blessings to you and your family.....

Kazim 

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My last 2 years of my life

From: kazim abasali kazim.asaatt@gmail.com 

Hi my dear Abbey Alumni,

I am sharing some thoughts with you concerning my life and the common bond we share as Mount boys.

I went to Mt. St, Benedict Abbey School for 2 years from 1970 to 1972 to repeat Ordinary Levels Examinations.

The prior 5 years I had attended Holy Cross College in Arima where I was born and grew up.

Mount life is one I will always remember in my heart and surely did indeed have a lasting effect on me as I am sure it has for you too.

The great memories with my schoolmates and teachers and priests, I give thanks still today for the ways they shaped my life.

And the spiritual lessons I learnt then as a young man was the foundation for me as I journeyed through life after I left our Mount home.

In 2008, I had to return to Trinidad for sure.

The closest family I grew up with in Arima was in crisis.

The Gomes family suffered 2 deaths in the same week in different parts of the world. The Gomes family is known internationally for sports – Larry Gomes served in the West Indies as a dependable batsman in the WI glory days with Richards, Lloyd, Greenidge, Holding, Roberts, “Big Bird” Garner, just to name a few.

His other older brother Sheldon, who also represented Trinidad and the WI, became a sports coach for the Abbey while I attended there in the early 70's.

Well, to sum it up, the oldest brother Lester of the Gomes family, (with whom I had a special bond because of the game of tennis which I dearly loved), was in ill health in Arima, Trinidad, where he lived.

Lester was a tennis champion, and later on coached clubs and organisations.

One of the sisters and younger in the family, lay dying in Canada where she resided, with brain cancer and so the Gomes family from Trinidad, including the mother of the family, travelled to Canada to be at her death bed and sharing final time with her.

Well back in Trinidad later that same week, Lester got a seizure and died suddenly.

So the Gomes family that travelled to Canada to be with Colleen in her final moments had to travel back to Trinidad abruptly for Lester's burial.

When they returned to Trinidad, and made arrangements of Lester's final service and resting, word came to them that Colleen had passed on.

So after Lester's funeral, the family returned once more to Canada to lay Colleen to rest there as she had children who resided there.

We shared a very strong bond that we had as children growing up and I wanted to support this family.

You see back in 2001, one of my older brothers passed away suddenly from a heart condition.

And I remembered during my grieving period the tremendous support we got from the Gomes family.

So, I knew I had to give my own support to this family, especially their mom who I felt was courageous and I so wanted to share time with her and her family to somehow cushion the blows they experienced.

So I decided to stay on and spend my first Christmas in Trinidad since I moved to the US in 18 years.

What coincided with the Gomes tragedy was that the Mount was having a reunion and so I made the commitment to be there in some of the activities to reconnect and reminisce of the time I had as a Mount boy.

To walk the building and grounds as I did growing up as a boy was something I longed for many years in my adult life.

It was 'holy ground' to me and to visit my Mount home again was indeed so much a gift to me even under the unpleasant conditions with this visit to my homeland.

I got to visit the Abbey School and Church grounds with a mass and a walk down memory lane, and a family day in Mayaro at Kelvin Khan's beach house the next day which was a Sunday.

I did not attend the dinner, because I had gotten a ride back home to Arima with Franklin Kerry and he carried me to his home and there was a birthday celebration for his grand-daughter that same evening and night.

Franklin became a close friend to me after this and I now enjoy a close friendship with Winston, his twin brother who I remembered playing tennis in the days of Lester Gomes my friend.

Since I had just recently started the website for our Mount Alumni, a great bond ensued with others.

I got to meet with Don Mitchell for the first time who encouraged me to continue my efforts with the website to support the tremendous work Ladislao and Nigel were currently doing and have made our Alumni so much vibrant.

This visit to Trinidad was a blessing to me, to meet and share and bond with my Mount brothers.

I am so grateful for the time I shared with those I met and my classmates as well.

It was indeed truly wonderful for me to meet with the Present Mount Alumni Association officers most of whom I knew personally when I attended school at Mount.

While in Trinidad, and I had decided to stay on for Christmas, I was invited to attend Alumni Association meetings with the officers, which I did, so I could better serve the group with their agendas and passion.

A meeting was being organised with Ladislao, as a visit was being arranged for him in Trinidad.

I was so much looking forward to meeting with Ladislao to share my personal gratitude to him for all he had done and continue to do for our Mount Boys over the many years.

I thought of it as a humbling experience to me to meet him.

However, although I waited as long as I possibly could for the meeting with him, my time in Trinidad was drawing to a close, as I only have a Green Card status, and my 6 months away from the US was not something I wanted to play with, something my family had sacrificed so much over the years for me.

So, as Ladislao visit materialised much later than I expected, I was sad that I did not get to meet him and share things with him concerning continuing serving our Mount boys with this common bond of love we have for our school.

In addition, I did not share this reason of my US Green Status with the Mount Boys and especially Ladislao.

I sincerely apologise to Ladislao and all concerned for this oversight on my part.

I believe this was a missed opportunity that I was so looking forward to, and my hope and prayer is that one day soon I do get to meet with Ladislao and Nigel as I so enjoyed the meeting with Don and subsequent communications by email with him.

On my return to New York, I had to assist my mom with moving as the lease with her apartment in New York was now ending with her landowners for over 10 years.

The last couple years I decided to live with my mom since she was having health issues, in and out of hospital, and so I wanted to give my support to her as best as I could.

She was now 84 years and the stress with the moving experience was having an effect on her fragile heart.

She resisted the necessary move for at that age she felt comfortable with 'her home' there.

It was indeed a very difficult period for her and me.

I tried my best and wished today I could have done more.

With a ticket in her hand to move to Florida with a sister of mine who came to take her in a few days, I left her in New York and returned to Phoenix, Arizona which I consider my home.

Sadly, 3 days later after I left her she passed away.

I had to return to New York right away as my family flew in from the entire world for arrangements and services in New York, and then we took her body to Trinidad her long-for home as her final resting place.

Again, I was back in Trinidad under circumstances I much rather was different.

I stayed on in Trinidad as my other family members to bond and support one another.

I decided to spend the Christmas holidays and our family had 2 reunions in Trinidad, while I was there.

One was my younger brother and sister's birthday, they are twins.

It was arranged before my mom's passing, so we decided to make it happen to support each other more and we also had a reunion in a beach home leading up to Toco, a month or so later.

Also, I attended a Holy Cross College Alumni Annual Meeting, where I was privileged to meet Dr. Bernand Tappin, a former HCC Principal, who happens to be a Mount Boy also.

A couple photos I shared with our Mount Boys in Ladislao's past circulars.

My travel back to New York was to acquire my new Trinidad passport, and now there is more moving with other members of my family.

As you may realize life has many twist and turns, and we deal with them as best as we can.

I am now getting my new Trinidad passport that has taken me so long.

However, I am grateful for the help I got in acquiring it as others experience longer waiting periods.

Next on my list is my American citizenship, and the fees are now US $1,000.

Having said all this, what is important to note and share with you, is that I suffer from claustrophobia, (the fear of closed spaces, like airplanes).

When my brother died in 2001, I felt it for the first time, although it was subdued, However, when my most beloved girlfriend died in 2003, it became really terrible and my travelling on planes over the years with these unpleasant events has been a roller coaster ride for me to say the least.

I have had to comfort or sedate myself with drugs, prayers, therapy, hypnosis, and other things to make all these trips, which I was not eager to do.

You can imagine my mindset when my mom passed and I had to return to New York from Phoenix, Arizona.

Luckily for me I have a dear friend in Phoenix, who works in a major medical hospital there, and she gave me some drugs to sedate me and knock me off if I did not get an aisle seat as I begged for as I entered the plane.

You know, I am now travelling in the New York subway as I have to travel to get my Trinidad passport in Manhattan.

I now use alternative treatment like acupressure and an enormous amount of prayers, affirmations and hypnotic therapy.

I am conquering my fears. I have to, in order to live in this world.

My problems in life are insignificant, compared to countless others, like those children who suffered in the tsunami that lost their homes and family.

What about Kitty Marcus who was torn apart from her family and her homeland to be with us at the Mount?

What about the priests and brothers who taught us and gave up family, friends, and home, to teach, educate, and disciple us to be steadfast, and to be courageous, and face life no matter what?

Their lives should teach us from their sacrifices and commitment and love.

I am so thankful and appreciative of the schooling I got from Mt. St. Benedict, Abbey School.

In 1972, on the 2^nd year at the Mount, my dad who was a director of the then BWIA, passed away.

I knew then as I know now, of a brotherhood that still to this day I cherish so close to my heart.

My home then was Mt. St. Benedict and with my dad's passing, all I had was my Mount brothers as this was my home at the time, and I carried on and forged ahead.

Today, wherever we are, we still have a bond of sorts with our Brothers from the Mount.

We continue to share our lives with information, events, photos, of our passage through life with our emails to Ladislao.

It is always so heart-warming to see family photos, reunions with the boys and their family all over the world.

And all this is made possible by those who serve us so much.

It is truly a labour of love.

It involves so much time, energy, commitment and dedication. I am truly and deeply thankful to Ladislao, Nigel, Don and all others who contribute to our Circulars, Blogs and Database.

Your efforts - I want you to know, from the depths of my heart, is so very much appreciated.

I am indeed thankful for your hard work over these years.

And I know I speak on behalf of the boys who share this love with you as we journey through life sharing our stories on different sides of the world.

Many years ago in Trinidad I learned how to receive love and know true love - it is when we serve.

Before I came to the US, I served in Arima, Trinidad as a community worker, something I took upon myself as a Christian.

Faith without works is dead.

So to profess our faith, we have to make it active, and so I decided there and then to be my brother's keeper.

And I went about it literally and undertook to take care of the homeless, the hungry and forgotten.

I worked under the Santa Rosa Catholic Church, The St. Vincent de Paul and the Lions Club, just to name a few.

I experienced great joy, such as I could never explain and felt the love of Christ in my life maybe a twinkling of what Mother Theresa and other such souls experienced.

I always want to experience such a love and joy so I always look for ways to serve.

And my efforts in our Mt. St. Benedict Alumni website is such a small token of service I try to humbly provide our Mount boys.

My prayer and hope is that I can somehow provide some form of up-liftmen and inspiration to others by what I contribute.

I am always inspired and heart-warmed by your life stories.

And I too, eagerly look forward to each and every circular, blog and database sharing from Ladislao, Nigel and Don and others.

In my journey of life, I seek to find ways to serve and support my fellowman, be it with our Mount Boys Alumni; and my other pass college Alumni, Holy Cross College; be it my home community in Arima where I grew up; be in Phoenix, Arizona where I call home and I joined with my close friends there and raised about $100,000 US for The Hunger Project to support world communities by teaching others to be self-reliant.

There is nothing such as a donor and a beneficiary.

We all brothers and sisters in this world.

We support one another, for we do not know when we will have need of each other with life's many battles.

And I continue my own campaign to serve our world in my life's work through my artistic talents called “Empower with Art”

Recently I had to invest in newer computer systems as I had issues with my computers and hard drive.

Some data was damaged.

Also I fell out of the loop somewhat with my mom's passing, for which I apologize for not attending to the website as I should have.

I am now able to return to doing my website work once more.

Kindly do visit and share with others if you feel drawn to, as I have made some updates with Kitty's recent passing.

Lastly, I apologize for this very long sharing.

I did this so that you all can have a better picture of who I am, and get to know me better as a brother, and I look forward to getting to know you better as well.

I am also trying to overcome life situations as best as I can.

I thank each and every one of you in all the ways you serve in your homes, communities and our world, and your life's work to humanity as well,  

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Make me a channel of your peace.

Where there is hatred let me bring your love.

Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord

And where there's doubt, true faith in you.

Chorus:

Oh, Master grant that I may never seek

So much to be consoled as to console

To be understood as to understand

To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace

Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope

Where there is darkness, only light

And where there's sadness, ever joy.

Chorus:

Make me a channel of your peace

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned

In giving to all men that we receive

And in dying that we're born to eternal life.  

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From: Glen Mckoy   

Thank you for the update of Winston Ing,

I think he wore glasses, dark long hair with a part on the left side, I could be wrong; anyhow, another brother has been found, good news.

We need a photo, best regards 

Glen. 

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From: krishnatoolsie@hotmail.com

Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2010 23:14:05 -0700 

Nigel and Glen: 

Another prodigal mount boy is back in the fold..   

He left for Canada around 74 or 75.regards,

Krishna 

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From: winston323@aol.com

Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2010 02:34:23 -0400 

Hi Krishna,

To a big surprise, I found your name while goggling and has read quite a few of your circulars posted on the web, Dated May 9, 2008

I see that you still remember me, would like to get in touch if possible.

Don’t know where you are now but with the internet, it’s not that far away.

Regards

Winston Ing Shing 

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Now to the photos. 

Ladislao Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,

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Photos:

10LK3397LANDSLIDE, Photo showing the damage done by the rain.

10LK3394LKEGRP, Anand Rampersadsingh, Ladislao Kertesz Jimmy Samaroo and Alexander Garth

09SC0011GRP, Fr. Boos, Bernard Stone and Jerry Bain

08face2008abasali, Kazim Abasali