It was billed A Tapestry of Love! The date? Sunday, July 29. The venue? Our Lady of Fatima Church in Curepe. The time? 6.00 p.m.! The occasion? A gala performance put on by the Curepe parish, to say good-bye to our beloved parish priest, Monsignor Esau Joseph. And what an event it turned out to be! 

From as early as 4.30 p.m. parishioners, their families and friends began arriving for what all anticipated would be one of the biggest events, to honour our dearly beloved, out-going parish priest, Monsignor Esau Joseph.

They were not to be disappointed! This was his very last weekend with us; he who had walked with us, and cried with us; and played with us, and prayed with us; and had always been there for us any time of day or night to comfort and console, and lead us along an unswerving pathway of love - love above all for our God, and love for each other, and we in turn, loved him, so very, very dearly!

This in fact, had been our privilege and our joy over the beautiful eleven years he had just completed with us, and this afternoon, at this very function, we would all say good-bye!

A drum reception by the Malick Tassa Drummersgot things off to an excellent start, (thank you, boys!) and this was immediately followed by the entrance of our very special guests for the evening, Her Excellency Dr Jean Ramjohn–Richards and her daughter, Maxine Richards.

They were escorted into the church by our guest of honour, Fr Esau himself. (And right here, dear Lady and your daughter, Maxine, we thank you most sincerely for gracing us with your presence. May God bless you abundantly)

Young Adrian Jaikaran, a youth of the parish, set the tone for the evening with one of the most beautiful renditions I have ever heard of the National Anthem on steel-pan.

Adrian, you did us proud. Thanks! This prepared us for an evening of song, dance and all the rest, which showcased our youth primarily. Master of Ceremonies for the evening was the inimitable Sheldon Narine, also known as the Crazy Catholic.

He did an excellent job in keeping the show moving, while having us doubled up in stitches throughout, as a result of his “crazy” jokes, to the point where some of us even began to wonder who would win in a contest between himself and our own darling Fr Esau; who of course, is known in his own right as a comedian, par excellence! But, don’t worry, Sheldon! You did an excellent job, and we all thank you and love you for it! 

Very special thanks must go to Freddie Kissoon and his Strolling Players, especially Shirley King and Pamela Allsop. Adopting her well known role as “Beulah”, Shirleydelighted us all by telling about her escapades atThe Wedding.

Now, if anyone had managed somehow, to still have a straight face by this time, this did it! Beulahwas at her very best, ably supported by Pamela; and we, good Catholics that we are, thoroughly enjoyed her “maco-ing” in true Trini style, (as only Beulah could of course), her friends at the wedding. It was great fun. Thank you from all of us, Shirley, Pamela and Freddie.

Senior citizen Violet Pompey presents a gift to Msgr Esau Joseph on behalf of the parish. At right is First Lady Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards

The Sunday morning choir in performance

The adults gave a good showing of themselves with Ken Ramon Fortuné playing the tune Memories very professionally on the flute, Sarojini Singh giving an operatic touch, to her truly beautiful, rich, and nostalgic rendition of Climb every mountain; both Saturday and Sunday choirs excelling themselves under their leaders, Joan Pantin (Saturday) and Jemma Jones (Sunday), and crowning it all, renowned soloist, our own, Richard Pierre, singing very appropriately and tugging deeply at our heart-strings and our emotions with, You raise me up.

But the night belonged unmistakably to the youth -  from the special presentation by the altar servers, to the graceful dance by three young ladies of the Youth Group,  to the beautiful strains of the Fatima Steel Orchestra led by Alfred Chow, to the music of the newly-formed brass band Supernatural Touch which had us older folk in awe, to the melodious sounds of the Youth choir. It all contributed to a well-planned and executed evening extravaganza which none who attended, and least of all Father himself, will soon forget.

Most outstanding among the young presenters was Giselle Warner,an accomplished musician, who accompanied the Junior Choir most competently on piano, and then went on to thrill the audience with her proficient playing of the violin. Thank you so very much, Giselle! And thanks too, to all the young people working quietly behind the scenes, to have things moving smoothly. May God richly bless you all!

A presentation was made to Msgr Joseph on behalf of the parishioners by one of our senior citizens, Violet Pompey. This led us to focus on the man himself, our dearest Father Esau, whose response was short and to the point. He dwelt briefly on a quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which ends with the well known words of wisdom:  “To thine own self be true; and then it must follow as night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”

In the end, it was an outwardly happy, though inwardly reflective andreminiscing congregation, that stood and joined lustily with the combined choirs to raise the roof, as together, we sang Give thanks to Almighty God, for the precious gift of Fr Esau to us for all of eleven years! As was expressed in the printed programme, which the Planning Committee under Murchison Sylvester, our deacon-in-training, prepared:

“Very many stories will continue to be shared, personal andcommunal of our interaction with him; his generosity, humility, joyful nature, empathy, keen mind, tremendous capacity for hard work, and commitment to family ….. For all this and more, dear Fr Esau, we thank you, and give praise and thanks to Almighty God!”

Yes, Monsignor, Curepe will always love you, and treasure you, and honour you, and remember you, as our dearest “Father” Esau! Rest assured that our prayers will always be with you for God’s continuing blessings and success in all that you do, even as we fondly say in parting:
“All we ask of you is forever to remember us as loving you!”