Monday, January 4, 2010

AGHS CYBER CELEBRATION

Hi All AGHS 'Old Girls"

WELCOME! WELCOME ! WELCOME

2 comments:

  1. Hi Contributors to the AGHS Network,

    As part of that network you probably heard of June Abbott's sudden departure and read or recieved a copy of the poem I wrote for her. It is reproduced below.

    As the New Year 2010 opened I thought the best memorial to June was to create a Cyber Network. The poem I wrote and some of you received to commemorate this idea is also reproduced below.
    So now it is YOUR turn to share your thoughts, images and/or memories.

    Best Always,

    Elaine


    PART I
    From Antigua Girls’ High School “old girls”: An Elegy for June
    Our Dear Friend and Classmate June Rita Cavelle Abbott
    composed by
    Elaine Henry Olaoye, November 6, 2009,

    Our tears are precious
    They are tiny jeweled drops
    Cascading symbols of how deeply we care,
    Symbols of a loss of someone beautiful and rare
    Symbols of the shock that laid bare
    The mystery, the finality of death
    That is a not always experienced as fair…
    Death, that can claim some of us before we wear
    Any signs that our departure might be near.

    Your death claimed you on the day of your birth
    You were taken, reclaimed by another sphere of life on earth
    With such remarkable precision and symmetry
    We are all left pondering afresh this ancient and modern mystery.

    You have returned to the island of your birth
    And we surround you now with our love
    Our memories of your mirth,
    Of your wisdom, your compassion, your independence, your strength
    That allowed you abroad to succeed, to shine
    While not forgetting family and friends here who were in line
    For your support, your counsel and your care.

    As we say our goodbyes to you here
    In the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
    Where as AGHS girls we sang so, many times
    We offer thanks for all the gifts collectively we have received,
    And the blessings of a good education that at AGHS, we each had.

    Death transcends human reason and understanding
    Just as the act and circumstances of birth are not fully comprehended.
    Death points us all to the presence of the unknown
    And dimensions of each of our lives that we do not fully own.

    Rest in love, June, as you return home
    As your spirit is freed, to bless all you have loved
    And all, you can now encircle in your fold.


    Reflections after Saying Goodbye to June
    OLAOYE January 2010
    Part II

    Our memories are precious
    At times the only connections linking us together
    In a fast paced, newly constructed world where
    We have gone in many different directions
    In many different places
    In so many different psychological spaces
    Aging also with differing physiological graces…

    Our memories are precious
    Able to allow us reflections and perceptions
    Unique, limited in time, limited in location
    Limited in attention
    Yet welcome, though oft neglected,
    Ignored though sorely needed
    Yet, if well heeded
    Can restore, can correct, can soothe
    Can comfort, can even heal
    Old psychic conflicts, assaults, bruises, wounds
    That still oozing, at times still bleeding, lead
    To loss of vital energies, persistence of personal doubts
    That can be transformed, harnessed
    Used, to reform, to build more personal joy, strength
    More confidence in our generation and its contributions
    As well as more potent, more mature relations
    Through technological networking allowing us to connect
    Not just at someone’s death
    But also at our own chosen creative cyber celebrations.

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  2. hi i am a student of AGHS, and i have misplaced the essay paper for the Elaine Henry Olaoye and Tori Scholarship. I was wondering if it can be found online.

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