Fraternity-Testvériség, 1986 (64. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
1986-07-01 / 3. szám
Page 16 TESTVÉRISÉG Az Amerikai Magyar Ref. Egyesület trentoni 20. osztálya ügykezelője Mrs. Ann Kröslin átnyújtja Csapó Michael-nek az Egyesületünk ajándékát 50 dollárt. Csapó Michael a trentoni református gyülekezetünk fiatal tagja Haitiban volt segíteni az ottani misszionáriusoknak közel 4 hétig. Nagyon szépen köszöni a Magyar Református Egyesület elnökének a pénzbeli adományt. Ann M. Kroslin BRANCH 35 - DETROIT, Ml Horváth néni receives Statue of Liberty Award from President Bertalan. Mrs. Esther Horvath was born on February 12, 1886 in Matyfalva. She came to America through Ellis Island in 1907. Her 100th birthday was remembered in a service conducted by Bishop Abraham Dezső and Reverend Imre Bertalan in February 1986. The following is an excerpt of her daughter’s, Esther, letter: “You were so kind in remembering my dear mother in your Sunday sermon based on your Saturday visit to the nursing home. Indeed, mom has been just such a paragon of Hungarian motherhood as you discerned her. She was widowed when we three sisters were very young children so her life’s chores were monumental but not insurmountable. Though life was harsh, she managed to maintain a good sense of humor and really gave of herself to all.” (Unfortunately, Mrs. Horvath passed away shortly after her 100th birthday.) The students of grade nine in the local schools were encouraged to write about ‘What the Statue of Liberty Means to Me’ — one of the students who received acknowledgement was Angela Dombi — her essay follows: “The Statue of Liberty means a lot to me, not only freedom, but also caring about people like me who came from a socialist country, where liberty is a word unknown to most people. Many people who were born and raised in this prosperous and free country, take for granted all the good things they have. I suppose one has to live in a place where things are not as easy to get as here, in order to appreciate all we have. I was born in Rumania, and I know how hard it was for me and my parents over there. My parents always had problems to get food, clothes, or even milk for the children. In the winter time, it was colder inside than outside of the house. The cars didn’t work well; we didn’t have gasoline. The children had to walk far away in the cold to get to school at 7 a.m. If we were late, the teachers would hit us, and would give us bad grades. We had lots of homework, and only 10 minutes for lunch. My parents started working at 6 a.m., and used to come late at night. Sometimes they used to talk about freedom, but we knew that there is no freedom in socialist countries. If we were crying because of cold or lack of food, they would say “It will be a time when we will be free, and will have a lot of things.” Well, that time has finally come when we had a chance to come to the Ú.S.A., the land of the Statue of Liberty. I’ll
