It doesn’t seem like a year since I broadcast my last Christmas message. 2012 has been an eventful year, and a difficult one in many respects, but it has also seemed to pass very quickly. So I find myself already giving my last Christmas message as Governor. Indeed, it doesn’t really seem that long since I broadcast my first such message three years ago in 2009. This time next year my successor will be speaking to you.
It’s too soon to start a farewell reflection. I will be Governor of Anguilla for some time yet – until the summer of 2013. But I would like to reflect on some of the things that have struck me as important over the four Christmases of my time in Anguilla, and more generally. The first is the importance of families – Christmas is often spoken of as a family time, although its profound message is wider than that. Certainly, my family – Sarah and our children – have been the most important thing to me throughout my time here. My son and I were privileged to attend a Parent/Child retreat a few weeks ago, where Ralph also made his debut as a public speaker. My daughters are also involved in lots of activities on the island. And the importance of family ties on this island has often struck me as we have wrestled with the issues of violence affecting our young people. Of all the influences on our youth, families are the most important. So Christmas is a good time to re-assess our roles as husbands, wives and in particular as parents.
A second theme is the importance of the wider community. Anguilla is a small island, too small to be divided. I spoke last year of the importance of unity on this island, and that theme is just as important now. We have seen a number of occasions in the past year when the people of the island have demonstrated their unity. The Visit of Their Royal Highnesses the Earl and Countess of Wessex was an occasion for Anguillians to re-affirm their links to the Royal Family. Another very memorable occasion was The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June, when Anguilla saw the last bonfire of the chain lit around the world to celebrate the Jubilee. Anguilla Day is always another such occasion, this time unique to the island, in celebration of the Revolution of 1967. We have needed to keep that sense of unity before us in facing a number of difficult challenges this year – but I continue to believe we are at our best when we do so.
This leads to a third theme – the challenges that we as an island are facing. Sadly, they have not got much easier over the last four Christmases, and nor can one pretend that they will get easier over the next few either. I spoke last year of the unity with which the Chief Minister, I and others were working together on one particular problem, and that remains the case. But I cannot claim that there are easy solutions to some of these difficult issues.
My fourth theme is hope and optimism. The message of Christmas, on which I reflected last year through my favourite carol, is one of profound optimism, and it is easy sometimes to forget that amid the difficulties of life, particularly in the world today. The turmoil we saw in the wider world at Christmas 2011 has not gone away, and if anything world events are even more disturbing now than last year, with political turmoil continuing in parts of the Middle East, economic problems everywhere and no immediate prospect of solutions in sight. But the more difficult it is to be optimistic, the more important it is to try to be hopeful. There is every reason to be confident in the future of Anguilla. So let us look to the future with hope.
Sarah and I and our children wish everyone a very Happy Christmas, and best wishes for the New Year.
-Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
