Valarie Green, wife of the late Aldwyn "Lord Kitchener" Roberts, has been laid to rest.
At her final farewell service at St. Finbar's RC Church in Diego Martin, pieces of the life of Green came together to paint a picture of a woman of resilience, faith and talent.
00:00From some of the faces present, the mark of the woman they had all gathered to say goodbye to was made, etched into the fabric of their lives in one way or another.
00:10Valerie Green became well known as the flagwoman for her Calypsonian star husband, Aldwyn Lord Kitchener Roberts, in the 1970s for his hit song, Flagwoman.
00:20But on the more personal side of things, she was one of 18 siblings and went on to have four children of her own,
00:27Christian Colonel Kiwina and Kernister Roberts.
00:30Her son, Colonel, in delivering her eulogy, recalls that his mom and dad had fallen in love and without any dancing experience, she joined him on stage as his dancer.
00:41The very first song she accompanied daddy on stage with was a song called The Bump.
00:50She was truly in love with her new dancing career.
00:54She then continued dancing with daddy and captivating audiences, both local and abroad.
01:03She is now immortalized in song with calypsos like the classic legendary Audrey Sugar Boom Boom and the iconic roadmatch of 1976, Flagwoman.
01:17Roberts refers to his parents as hard workers and says his mom helped his dad fulfill his dreams, including acquiring the land for Rainorama Palace, which he states they built together.
01:29May I add, there was a legal battle for Rainorama.
01:35She endured a 23-year court case to restore Rainorama back to her name for her children, whom she did every and anything for.
01:45Thanking God, he kept her alive long enough to see the injustice did to her, corrected.
01:53Robert says his mom was caring, nurturing and loving, and raised some of her siblings as if they were her own children.
02:01She turned Rainorama into a space that was constantly filled with family and friends.
02:06I'm here to testify before you today that my mother, Miss Green, used to make the greatest Kalaloo in the world.
02:18That woman could have cooked.
02:21And I'm sure many of you in here could testify to that as well.
02:28Because, you know, once mommy cooks and you happen to pass through in the Rama, you're sure to get food.
02:36Apart from that, he says, she was a judge for the National Carnival Commission and a lover of aerobics.
02:43Green had learned to do her own nails after Kitchener stopped her from going to her nail technician,
02:48and that spawned something new within her.
02:51Kitchener's ruling turned out to be the launch of what would be Val's gift as a talented master nail tech and artist.
03:01From being her client in Woodbrook, I continued with her as she moved to Joanne's Salon in Petit Valley,
03:10then to her home in Mount Hope, until she finally returned home to Rainorama Palace after the passing of Kitchener.
03:20Nicole Dyer Griffith was one of her clients, as the two had met in 1998.
03:25When I was preparing for the Miss Trinidad and Tobago competition, she did my nails, and she did my nails almost every single time thereafter for many years.
03:35She became more than a friend. She became family. She saw the birth of my son. She was there when I had my wedding.
03:43She's there at every anniversary event. She was there for the most recent challenges that I experienced.
03:51Dyer Griffith says if Green could leave three phrases behind for others, they would be to be kind, have faith, and to know that God is real.
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