Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 26 March 2011 No.490
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Dear Friends,
From here on, I shall only include excerpts of the old Circulars and shall not copy all the Circulars , as some of you are relatively new comers to the weekly Newsletter.
Remember that all Circulars can be read in Don Mitchell´s Blog page.
I am resending the Yip Chuck Photo, please check it out, the names might not be correct.
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Caracas, 19 January 2002. Circular No.10
Dear Friends,
This was a rough week for the new comers, remember that school year started in January in our times. Getting the books, notebooks etc. classroom assignment.
Sometimes if there was no pre assigned listing, for the DESK!!!. The window seat. Those front seats being important to a special group and those back seats to the more leisure group, in the middle those that were not too keen to be in the sight of the teacher and because there were no more back seats.
The meeting of old friend and finding out who were the new ones and those that did not make it (the whys and where they when) rumours, then the talk of the holidays, trips, etc.
Of course those that had to take an aeroplane to get to the school had a more agitated time not because of the trip but because you did not want to forget anything, clothe, sweets, presents, toys, new pens (ball point).
Here I am continuing the who is who, thanks to Roger Henderson:
3. Richard Anderson - has his own gardening service business in Orlando. Works for some big names in golf and tennis such as Pete Sampras and Ernie Els.
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...9 mar 2011
From: Glen Mckoy <mckoy43glen@hotmail.com>
Dear Ladislao,
I do respect you for giving all their chance to express their experience on the Mount, however sometimes the truth do offend.
I do support you in all your decisions with the circular, and your effort to make it real, and not only of the great times some of us experienced on the mount.
I would like to share this, my conclusion of same; this is what I read by Jean Gebser "The ever present origin”.
Only if we grant power to something can it have power over us.
It becomes a serving and sustaining potency when we again are able to place it into the Realm where it belongs, instead of submitting to it.
The Ego is not personal, from the book "A New Earth”, by Eckhart Tolle.
By far the greater part of violence that humans have inflicted on each other is not the work of criminals or the mentally deranged, but of normal, respectable citizens in the service of the collective ego.
One can go so far as to say that on this planet "normal" equals insane.
What is it that lies at the root of this insanity?
Complete identification with thought and emotion, that is to say, ego.
Greed, selfishness, exploitation, cruelty, and violence are still all-pervasive on this planet.
When you don't recognise them as individual and collective manifestations of an underlying dysfunction or mental illness, you fall into the error of personalising them.
You construct a conceptual identity for an individual or group and you say: "This is who he is. This is who they are."
When you confuse the ego that you perceive in others with their identity, it is the work of your own ego that uses this misperception to strengthen itself through being right and therefore superior, and through reacting with condemnation, indignation, and often anger against the perceived enemy.
All this is enormously satisfying to the ego.
It strengthens the sense of separation between yourself and the other, whose "otherness has become magnified to such an extent that you can no longer feel your common humanity, nor the rootedness in the one Life that you share with each human being your common divinity.
Thank you Ladislao for your true concern on these matters, which we all would like to ignore, however we must face our convictions, as gentlemen.
May God Bless you my dear Brother, you are our voice, with great respect your truly,
Glen McKoy.
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Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 18:16:11 -0800
From: kertesz12@yahoo.com
Dear Glen,
I feel the same way, but if I did not publish the opinions that have some rational phrases then I cannot continue with the Circular.
He has the right to tell his story, I am not getting into his reasons, and maybe he thought that life then? was not fair?
But you and I know that this is not so, we were not cruel, but in all schools there where kids that at the moment were cruel because they were stronger physically, and/or had rich parents, etc.
I have met these latter on in life and we joke about the events and they are ok guys, but not when they over stepped the common sense and I was the fall guy.
So give him space, the events happened and the bullies existed.
I only have printed and shall print the stories that have sense and which I consider of interest to the life at the Mount.
Not everything was rosy, but I believe that our ability to conquer obstacles, made us better students.
Maybe those that complained or have bitter memories, should revise their conscience as to their ability to overcome adversity, then and now.
We must understand their grudge and forgive them; their life might still be a small hell.
I only hope that as a time goes by they may recognise their weakness and then be able to build a stronger self.
Thank you for your comments, Glen, your input is great even if it is on a sad story.
Sad because it about a human being still confronted with anger after 30+ years.
We can only hope that there is reconciliation with themselves, in those that are in the same state of mind. (he is not the only oldboy that has mentioned their anger, but he is the one with writing abilities)
I am sure that I have not answered your enquiry as to why I published the short stories, but be rest assured that it took me over a year to decide.
We can always get together to discuss this thorny issue.
Ladislao
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From: Glen Mckoy mckoy43glen@hotmail.com
Sent: Tue, March 8, 2011 7:19:20 AM
Dear Ladislao,
Re: John G. I am getting sick of his, " please feel sorry for me," he was not the first boy to get picked on and he was not the last, and his situation, was not the worst if some guys tell him their stories he would shut up.
I got blows which I earned well for talking back to older boys, or just getting in trouble, I have no regrets, it was a boys school not a girl school, read about boarding schools around the world ,
I think ours was pretty good to what I have read about those in England and other countries.
John had personal problems with some boys before he came up to the mount, when he came up to the mount some of these boys were up there, and I guess his problems with these boys continued, what justice is he looking for, most of the boys who are reading these statements don't even know John.
Please grow up John, so you can move forward, maybe help others who are experiencing same, I cannot understand why John is hurting others with these old wounds, who were not there at that time,
I was from John time, and many boys went thru the same thing, just the rest of us were not a mummy boy and still spoiled, enjoy your life if you ever became a man, and forget all that crap, it will only eat you up.
I promised I would not be drawn into his trap, of engaging in talk, of making something out of nothing. I am sorry for wasting time,
Please don't cry for me,
Glen McKoy.
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From: Hudsonmckoy <hudsonmckoy@aol.com>
Hi Ladislao,
You have all right to publish every student's story.
I support John 100% to be heard despite his anger.
I was there that night but didn't partake in this cowardly act of bullying.
I was also bullied by a notable bully –
I told him that I didn't have to put my hand on him but God would put His Hand on him.
Later on in life God's Hand did fall on him while he was working underwater in the form of a steel beam to his neck, crushing his vocal chords.
Call it retribution but I repent for making such a statement since none of us are worthy of God's grace.
I have since prayed for forgiveness for this person and all the others who took part & may John forgive them some day...
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...16 Jan 2011
From: kazim abasali <kazim.asaatt@gmail.com>
Hi Ladislao, Nigel and Don,
Here I am in the Seychelles, islands in the Indian Ocean. This was a vacation gift made to me by my eldest sister (who resides here), and her son, who is a pilot for the Air Seychelles airline. He is now about to fly in Abu Dubai for another airline.
My regards to you all and the Alumni. May the year ahead be one of blessings with your families and may we continue to grow stronger with our bonds of friendship and brotherhood.
Ladislao, may you continue to be nurtured and supported for your outstanding work over all these years. And Nigel, may you too be blessed for all your database management skills and keeping the group informed or contacts. Don, thanks again for keeping the blogs going with the circulars from Ladislao.
My wish is that the joy of service continue to shine bright in our hearts as we share with one another our journeys. To all the Abbey boys, may we continue to be a mighty support to one another.
Take care my brothers.......Kazim
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Glen Mckoy
18 Dec (6 days ago)
Thank you Ladislao, always so good to read these articles.
The one on Peter Gorinsky, what a story, I would like to hear more from this brother, the adventures of his life.
The ending photo, just beautiful.
Ladislao, please, send me a note whenever, you think of it, what's on your mind?
I need some directions, in general, what would you like to see, just picking your brains, I need to communicate, with you, we are at a cross roads.
My actions have been random, many times on the spur of the moment, hopefully most were good.
Nigel and you are over worked, and should be compensated, for office supplies, and general maintenance, up keep of the Circular and Records keeping.
We are growing every month, these services are essential, in order for us to function and to stay as a group, and will not be taken for granted.
Full support must be given here.
We will address this in the New Year.
It is working great and we do not want to lose it.
Ladislao, if there is anything I can do to assist you, equipment you need, supplies, back up stuff, tell me I will see what I can do.
Thinking of you mi hermano, the humble one.
Best regards
Glen McKoy.
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Attila GYURIS <gyuris@yahoo.com>
Friday, April 24, 2009 12:17:51 PM
That was very nice.
It gives a whole new expanded meaning to the word “brother".
I never thought of that way until now.
Attila Gyuris
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From: Glen Mckoy mckoy43glen@hotmail.com
Date: Friday, April 24, 2009, 1:52 AM
My dear brother,
My father passed away 2 years ago, I just got out of that depression, it affected my life with my family also, as I kept my hurt inside, now I am trying to mend these emotions with my family who do care.
You are not alone, you only expressed yourself, and in expressing yourself, it will slowly release the hurt.
I love you my brother and God bless you for having feelings, many brothers have told me stories that I cannot repeat, it was hard on us all, after leaving our security blanket, the Mount.
Thank you for this email, I do hope you will start feeling good about you, because we feel good having you on board, my brother,
Best Regards Glen McKoy.
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Ladislao Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,
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Photos:
Mount Inside No.10 page 10
57WK0061YICHGRP, New names to the photo
56KA0018Bless, Blessing of the school
60UN0001CLASS1960, My favourite class
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