"Look up at the Heavens and watch the Stars"

   

Feeling a little disappointed that my class did not have the opportunity to tour Jameson Distillery and the English Market, I started off today's field trip feeling a little bleh. However, once stepping foot on the grounds of the Curraghmore Estate in Portlaw, County Waterford I quickly realized that I was somewhere rare. And rare indeed it proved to be, in fact, the home is still occupied by the Lord Marcus Waterford the 8th. Thats EIGHT generations of history to take in. The butler, bezzle (who I will discuss in just a bit), was careful to mention that this was a HOME not a museum. The house was whimsical in architecture, and the musky smell of the foyer foreshadowed the richness of the home that was soon to unfold. Room by room, my jaw seemed to fall a little bit closer to the floor. (No pictures allowed-sadly). The intricate detail of the ceilings all they way down to the 18th century carpet-undisturbed- was a sight to witness. Paintings from renaissance painted and furniture from the very home of Marie Antoinette. It was hard to realize that I wasn't dreaming about a house I saw in Pride and Prejudice, I was actually standing in one very much like it. Although we did not have the opportunity to the mean Lord Waterford, I caught a glimpse of him staring out from a window. An old man, wrinkled and gray, yet standing with grace and the presence of history.

 

 

 

   I mentioned earlier about Bezzle. Originally from South Africa, Bezzle began his career some 20 odd years ago. Before becoming a butler for Lord Waterford, he managed a bakery for production of nutritional biscuits for starving children of South Africa. Due to financial issues by the hands of the South African government, funding for the bakery closed. Near 60, he and his wife were broke, without a home, and lost in the place they once knew as home. With the support of their children then moved to Dublin into a small apartment in the hustle of the city. Bezzle was simply attending to his daily crossword when he looked to the opposite page. An add offering the position including a free home caught his eye. When being interviewed it turned out that was much older than they intended and he had no experience whatsoever in the field. Three short weeks later, they offered him the position and settled him in a home on the property free of charge. When he asked the secretary why he was chosen, it turned out to be due to fraudulant applicants in the pile. When Lord Waterford found out about the prior applicants he blurted out, "oh choose the next man that comes along". Bezzle will say it was luck, I saw it was the Lord's will to bless a man who had spent his life serving the hungry and broken. Bezzle  and his wife feel as if they live in paradise. They wake up every morning to the song of birds and on nights when clouds are sparce he pulls his wife outside and says, "look up at the heavens, and watch the stars!" If there's anything i've learned here, it's that God has shown me wonderful people who have seen the highs and lows of joy and rejoice always no matter what becomes of their path.

Finally, we went to the highest point of Portlaw and took in a few green views (THE SUN CAME OUT!) before heading back. Sometimes, you have to put aside the selfish desires of wanting to do something else in order to see the beauty God intended you to see; a lesson to be thankful for.

A rose in the gardens of thee