New York

Here we are in New York

The journey had been arranged for the October of 1916, but in May Dina’s mother suffered a serious accident. Dina feared, not only for her mother, but she also saw a threat to her plans to go to New York. She says, “In the very moment that my serious and important plans on which my whole future perhaps depended, Jesus asked me to sacrifice my desires”.  To have felt such anxiety is normal and she needed a big grace to renounce her plans cheerfully.  But, having accepted this possibility, things changed; her mother made a complete recovery and when summer came Dina was again able to begin to dream and prepare for the forthcoming journey.

Three young Canadians: Dina, Bernadette and Aline,  accompanied by Mr Bélanger, undertook the journey to New York. Dina wrote to her mother telling her that the passing scenery was enchanting and that during the journey they had played cards, laughed endlessly,  according to her, as she had not done in the previous nineteen years, adding  that, in reality, to be going to New York, made her feel that she was in paradise.

In New York Dina’s parents had chosen the Residence Our Lady of Peace, run by the Religious of Jesus and Mary. On arriving Dina was disappointed to find that she would have to share a room with another – only one single room was available and her father advised them to offer it to Aline. For Dina, who was used to being alone, this was a problem, but nobody noticed. Later on, when a single room became available, both Dina and Bernadette decided to remain together. The two had discovered the biblical treasure of friendship.

The three young women got on marvellously well together. All three loved dancing and spent hours enjoying themselves at it.  Dina’s friends were aware of her unselfish kindness, for while being very cheerful and full of laughter and jokes, she was also very sharp and knew how to tease without being hurtful.

Nothing distinguished Dina exteriorly from the others but there was something different – a greater reserve, an evenness of character and temperament. She never spoke badly of any one, and if somebody did so, Dina had a remarkable ability to change the conversation or emphasise the qualities or the strong points of that person.

As an artist Dina greatly enjoyed the concerts that she attended and according to her teachers, made great progress in both piano and harmony. In her commitment to her studies Dina wished to please and thank her parents for the great sacrifice they had made with her departure and, in order to compensate in some way for her absence, she wrote to them almost daily. The letters are those of a cheerful young woman, spontaneously happy with everything – but this does not reveal anything of that which nourished her inner-life. She went to Mass and Holy Communion everyday and followed the prayer- plan that she had drawn up previously.

We have the 278 letters that were written to her parents during her stay in New York, which they donated after her death.  Next time you will be able to read some extracts from them so that you will get to know Dina better.