My dear family, on behalf of Marbue and Lena Brown, Joy And Ken Grimes Eke, Connie and me – and all of our families, “Never Mind Yah!” Also, we give God thanks, "plenty," for the life and legacy of our dear Cousin Anna.
As we celebrate Cousin Anna’s life and legacy today, please allow me to take us back in time for a bit, starting all the way back in 1865. The first Anthony Barclay emigrated from Barbados to Liberia in 1865, with his wife Sarah, and their 11 children. Granddaughters of one of Anthony and Sarah’s sons, and one of Anthony and Sarah’s daughters, Cousin Anna and our mother, Mary Antoinette Grimes Brown Sherman, were close cousins and best friends – from childhood, until parted by death in 2004. Cousin Anna was a granddaughter of President Arthur Barclay; our mother was granddaughter of Arthur Barclay’s youngest sister, Ella Barclay Grimes.
Cousin Anna was also godmother of our only sister, Lducia Brown, and our Mother was godmother of Cousin Anna’s first daughter, Wiyata. It is noteworthy that Cousin Anna and Cousin joe’s firstborn, Marbue, was named after the youngest brother of Henry, Rudolph, and Mary Antoinette Grimes.
The Richards home was one of our homes growing up, whether the home at Coconut Beach, Monrovia, or later, the home at Sinkor – a home we were welcomed and made to feel special at, without invitation, at any time, all the time. Marbue, Wiyata, and Joann were earliest playmates of Lducia, Joy, and me. Marbue Brown and Dawn Richards were cherished later additions to our growing families, during our early years.
Cousin Anna and Cousin Joe were a consistent source of love and affection for us. They were also an incomparable source of help and comfort, especially through two of the biggest traumas of our Brown family life; the sudden death of our father at age 46, in 1962; and Lducia being hit by a car, while crossing the street to the Richards home, and dying two days later, in 1967.
Cousin Anna took Lducia to be with her family for several days, immediately after the death of our father in 1962. Our mother, Marbue, and me lived at the Richards home (offered because of its proximity to the hospital where Lducia was hospitalized) from April 1 to April 3, 1962, when Lducia died.
By the grace of God, the world did not come to an end, neither in 1962, nor in 1967. There have been many years since then, of sharing joys, achievements, and assorted milestones, as Cousin Anna, and our mother, watched us, their children, grow up to adulthood, get married, become parents, and even become grandparents; many years of passing along to us a legacy of love, affection, integrity, faithfulness, and family. Cousin Anna’s smile, warmth, love, open arms, and sincere interest in us were constant throughout the years that we were blessed to share with her.
Our dear Marbue & Gleneda; Wiyata; Joann & Chauncey; Dawn & Joseph; and Carl, thank you yah! The first of God's Ten Commandments with a promise is, “Honor your Father, and your Mother.” We have witnessed you do that, as a team, to the best of your abilities. You, and your children, have been, and will be blessed for what you have done. Cousin Anna’s baton has been passed to your very capable hands. Put God Almighty, the God of the Bible, first, for every one of your steps, for the rest of your journeys, and finish well.
We thank God for Cousin Anna. We will miss her! We thank God that she left us with all of you! We thank God for you!
May the Lord Jesus comfort your hearts at this time of separation, until, by His grace, you are reunited in the reunion that is guaranteed to all those who know and love him.
