Trinis Love Their Holidays!

2008
1 Jan New Year's Day
4-5 Feb Carnival
31 Mar Spiritual Baptist Shouters' Liberation Day
21 Mar Good Friday
24 Mar Easter Monday
22 May Corpus Christi
30 May Indian Arrival Day
19 Jun Labour Day
1 Aug Emancipation Day
31 Aug Independence Day
24 Sep Republic Day
2 Oct Eid ul Fitr
28 Oct Divali
25 Dec Christmas Day
26 Dec Boxing Day

2009
1 Jan New Year's Day
23-24 Feb Carnival
30 Mar Spiritual Baptist Shouters' Liberation Day
10 Apr Good Friday
13 Apr Easter Monday
30 May Indian Arrival Day
11 Jun Corpus Christi
19 Jun Labour Day
1 Aug Emancipation Day
31 Aug Independence Day
21 Sep Eid ul Fitr
24 Sep Republic Day
18 Oct Divali
25 Dec Christmas Day
26 Dec Boxing Day

Holiday Notes

• At the discretion of the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, any other date may also be declared a public holiday.
• Good Friday and Easter Monday are observed as public holidays in Trinidad and Tobago. However since they are determined by the Christian calendar, the date for each public holiday varies from year to year.
• The Muslim festival of Eid–ul–Fitr and the Hindu Festival of Divali are observed as public holidays in Trinidad and Tobago. However, since they are determined by the respective Muslim and Hindu religious organisations, the calendar date for each public holiday varies from year to year. These dates are usually announced one to two weeks prior to their observance each year. Hindu holidays are declared according to local astronomical observations and variations may occur. Muslim festivals are timed according to local sightings of various phases of the moon and the dates given above are approximations.
• When a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the holiday will be observed on the Monday immediately following. When two public holidays fall on the same day, the following day is also given as a public holiday.
• Most businesses are closed on Carnival Monday and Tuesday, even though these days are not public holidays.

For more information on a specific holiday, go to http://www.gov.tt/ and click on "Events & Holidays".

In Remembrance of Grandma

In Trinidad, people often hold a memorial service one year after the death and funeral of a loved one. It is a time for friends and family to remember their loved one once more and to comfort each other at that crucial one-year mark. It will soon be a year since my last living grandparent, Ruth Goodman, passed away, and in memory of her I want to share with you the letter I sent to be shared at her funeral last year.

Anna Ruth Whitmore Goodman
April 8, 1912 – October 22, 2007

Just after I received the news of grandma’s passing, I was riding in a car with my husband’s cousin Esha whose grandmother's funeral Andrew and I assisted with last Christmas. She understood the mixed feelings of sadness at not having grandma with us anymore but gladness that she is free from pain and tears and now rejoicing with her heavenly Father and reunited with so many loved ones who have gone before her. I started to share some things about who grandma was and Esha began to understand me a little better. Just the day before Esha had commented that I have a lot of books (which is unusual in the tropics as they don’t last very long in this climate). As I shared that grandma was a librarian at one time, it suddenly made sense to both to us where some of that love for books comes from. Although she had no formal training, some of grandma’s books were even on theology. Grandma was a committed Christian her entire life and enjoyed both studying and serving Christ. She loved the bible studies at church and loved to share little tidbits from Barclay’s commentary. She was one of the faithful few in her church who counted the church offering every Monday and delivered food baskets to the elderly (even when those elderly were actually younger than her). Grandma wasn’t a big cook, but she made amazing fresh bread and sticky buns to die for. I believe man really could live on her bread alone:).

Grandma faithfully wrote to her children and grandchildren until her late 80’s when she couldn’t see or write anymore. She would write about the weather, the local news, and relatives. She often included a newspaper clipping of something she thought you might be interested in and coupons for the groceries you liked to shop for. Grandma taught us all how to be wise stewards of our money – even how to be thrifty. She lived by the motto “reduce, recycle, reuse” before they even invented it. She had lived through the depression of the 30’s and she knew how to stretch a dollar and continued to do so throughout her life. She taught us the difference between wants and needs and which things you would be wiser to spend a little more on for quality sake. While thrifty with herself, she was generous with others. She was generous with her time, her money, and her love. Grandma knew people (lots of them!) and could tell you their names, who they were related to, and interesting little facts about them 50 years after she’d met them. Grandma was never famous, but she was incredibly faithful.

Grandma was both smart and educated. Her parents had valued giving their daughters an education beyond high school in an era where that was not yet common and that value carried through to all of her children and grandchildren, many of whom hold masters degrees now. Grandma kept her mind sharp with her daily New York Times crossword puzzles until she could no longer see to do them. She loved music and the arts and flowers as well and taught us to appreciate and value them. For years I had a peony bush in my yard that had been passed down from grandma’s grandmother. What a legacy! The last two years of grandma’s life became increasingly difficult as she lost pretty much all ability to communicate with others, but she would still perk up when you sang to her and would try to tell you she loved you. We love you too grandma and we’ll miss you!

Wish I could be with everyone to honor you today; my love is with you all. Lisa