As I entered St George’s Cathedral the sweet notes of “You Raise Me Up” on piano greeted my ears and then I spotted him seated infront of the musical instrument, swaying gently to the sounds his deft fingers created.
Seventy-seven-year-old Laurie Greenidge, ‘the man from Bajan Quarters, Skeldon Corentyne, Berbice,’ is a piano tuner. Greenidge has been playing and tuning pianos for years. “Piano is my second name, I just love the piano it makes you so creative,” he said.
Greenidge’s deftness with the instrument and the fact that he has been “tuning and repairing them for years” becomes more interesting when one considers that he has been visually impaired for most of his life. He shared that while he was not born blind, he had weak optic nerves which were improperly managed and eventually led to his blindness.