THE ANNUAL FAMILY LETTER

No matter how bad things have been I have always tried to find the funny side. this year will probably rank as one of the worst. There have just been such terrible things happen, so much stress and unhappiness that I will be glad when the year is over. I hope you had a good year and you can let me know of your highs and lows …..

2019 – Yet another year of delightfully exciting Harris happenings …..

Let’s get this letter rolling out early so as to accommodate the vagaries of postal snail mail of which Marilyn is a huge fan! As far as superstitions go, uneven years are deemed to be unlucky – nefarious characters & government peoples may have stolen billions, but hey! we won the world cup rugby! As with all things, it’s about finding the balance. The Jackalberry Gated Estate is still not secure! Eating out is ½ a chicken & chips from the shop at the gas station, but at least the whole family still manages to find laughter in weird places! At #11 life rumbles on at a rural pace, the most superb housekeeper, Princess, runs a tight ship, keeping the occupants including all 29 (but 2 don’t live here) cats & 3 dogs on their toes & in their place. Most of the cats have more than one name, human characteristics as ascribed to them, are fanciful & it is only at this house that Moana walks forwards on her back legs without any training, that many of the cats will sit on top of the carport & look at slaves until one of them lifts a plastic garden chair, onto which they will jump & be elevated down to the ground. Catnip has them rolling around like addicts. Let it be noted here, that Les has a great many favourites. *The death of Johnny Clegg was heart breaking – he helped make a rainbow nation seem possible, he made us believe, now it’s the time of the tokoloshe.* Friend Khule is the proud father of a pigeon pair. Extra special good friends & animal lovers remain treasures without measure! You know who you are. Les was diagnosed with a mass on his pituitary gland & advised to see an endocrinologist. That sent him on a quest, as they are as scarce as hens teeth, (endocrinologists, not quests)! After two million telephone calls & inefficiency to match any government department, he finally found an appointment! So the dude sent him to see another dude for more than just a holdwithaspoonandcough examination! Surgery followed with the prostate back in place, the bladder & kidneys filtered & a definite reduction of the mass & no cancer, Les declared in true Buffalo fashion, that he was pissing like a racehorse. It also meant he had to start testosterone therapy. Les jumped right in (get your mind out of the gutter), to the pottery studio & just like riding his bicycle, which he does every day, he went back to potting! He was scammed at an ATM & before they could cancel the card the fraudster made off with a vast amount of money & the bank reused to refund the money! As mentioned, he loves cycling but has been threatened with certain death because if he goes off-road, it’s like a roller coaster ride – he hears nothing, can see very little & the unsteady shaking sends him into boulders & dogs, with dire consequences.* Marilyn, who is equally deaf, does at least have her sight which never lets her down when she’s perusing eye candy & after all these years in Mandeni, she’s grateful for anything – their own teeth, sexy underwear & a driver’s license?  It has been in the region of twenty-five years since she was first diagnosed with poly chronic Rheumatoid Arthritis & as she dramatically likes to tell people, the disease is like the explosion at Chernobyl – for the most part, it’s contained but every now & then, a bit leaks out & she finds herself bedridden. Her support team, of probably the best Rheumatologist & the folks at his rooms in the whole entire universe & all the other -ologists & -trists keep her from chewing through the restraints. It’s not the arthritis so much as the hearing aids, the Interstitial Lung disease, the connective tissue pain, the stomach grumbles, inflammation swells & bulges & the deformity of her hands. Hollywood should hire those hands for Halloween! The mono clonal anti bodies, paid for by the medical aid fortunately remain her savior. Not one hospital visit so far – those gorgeous doctors must be running rampant without her regular inspections!!Sadly, the days are too short as she does a bit of crochet, knitting, writing & reading! On her days off, she’s teaching Les to bake. Her musical exploration has taken her to ‘Lucky Chops’ & “Too Many Zoos” in New York. Then she found the Latino magic of Juanes & “Roderigo Y Gabriela” – then the totally absorbing & fascinating discovery of “The Hu,” a Mongolian heavy metal band – oh goodness, their instruments she tells me, are exquisite, as are their boots!  They really felt the loss of Chester – he was Leslie’s boy, but their vet (simply the best & of special mention, Susan), comforted them by saying that in the time they had him, he experienced unconditional love. Les &Marilyn made it to Ezra’s & Sienna’s Grandparents Days but sadly, Marilyn was too ill to go to Tye’s – she was distraught about that, but Leslie thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with Tye. It all seemed to happen in a flash – one minute they were talking about it, the next, they were bidding farewell to Allister, on his way to take up residence in Auckland, New Zealand. Bianca & the children leave on the 27^th November.  Life will never be the same again. That’s all that can be said about that …  Stacey drives more like a taxi driver than ever before, even when she’s in the car, but coming to grips with Grade 2 has been quite a challenge – it’s just not the same as playing with the preschoolers. In true Stacey fashion, folding paper airplanes to help with spelling – to make learning fun, also how to make Oobleck & ice cream with hot ice! Most days in her class are like ‘fun at the fair’. Marilyn got to be a judge at  the Sagewood Talent Contest – the Bingo afternoon was also huge fun! Marilyn especially enjoyed watching a few chukkas of polo & men in skinny, white jeans & iconic boots will gladden any old girls heart! The local Tapanga sugar cane rum made them look even better!  Stacey preferred looking at the ponies & Les had a lengthy doze! It’s been a bumper crop of orchids this year, except for a plague of snails – not butter & garlic escargot ones unfortunately. The shade house is loved by all! Many a dead and lifeless plant has been resurrected in there & many a cat will take refuge on the cool, high shelves. We have been blessed with most welcome rain!

So lets hope that next year all your bells will jingle, that your balls won’t dangle too much and that you will make memories to last a lifetime.

Merry Christmas and Happy New 2020!

 

 

Plagiarism

I belong to a small group  of the Women’s Institute. Each month there are various categories of competitions: Best Floral Arrangement, best Fruit or Vegetable etc, as well as stipulated items, for instance, crochet squares that are judged and then donated towards the blankets that are made for a retirement village we support.

A recent entry for Adult Education was the topic, “Remembrances” and we were limited to four verses. I submitted mine and it was sent off to conference and I thought nothing of it. When it came back, I was told that a committee member had said that it was copied from a book. As a reporter and occasional writer, I was astounded to say the least.

So here’s that poem – tell me what you think!

Remembrances

“Grandpa,” I would ask,

“What was it like?”

He frowned and said,

“We understood the task.”

 

For freedom we fought and died,

So many, brave and good.

Over their shattered bodies we stood

And cried.

 

In his eyes, he conveyed the pain,

The oozing blood, the stench

Of mustard gas and rotting flesh –

In a hopeless, endless trench.

 

Grandpa’s small blazer pin,

A ‘Member of the Order of Tin Hats.’

All loss and suffering, time may mend

So my love and prayers to all, I send.

 

 

 

SAUDADE

31 October 2019

My first born son,

I’m so sorry, for everything – for things I said, but shouldn’t have and for things I should have said, but didn’t.

I’m sorry for your difficult birth and that I was so sick so soon after you were born. I’m sorry for your learning difficulties and for sending you to boarding school. I’m sorry you didn’t get a Matric, I’m sorry your businesses didn’t work out. I’m sorry if you think I love your sister more than you. I’m sorry I didn’t work and that I didn’t have enough money to buy you a house or establish a business that you could have taken over. I’m sorry that you hated our rural village so much. I’m so very sorry, that as a mother, I wasn’t enough for you. I’m so sorry I didn’t help you more; that I didn’t spend more time with you, that I couldn’t be with you in places that you loved and I couldn’t get to. I’m sorry for all the hurt I caused you. There is so much I regret. Please forgive me.

But,

I am so proud of who you are as a person, a son, a husband and a father. I couldn’t be more proud. You have such a great spirit and find so much joy in simple things – family, fishing, surfing and camping. You have such a deep, certain sense of exactly who you are, that you make people feel safe in your presence.

Please promise me that you won’t come back when I die out of a sense of duty or because of what people may think – I’ll be dead, so I won’t know and you shouldn’t care what people think anyway. Your life is in New Zealand now. You have so much to look forward to.

I thank you for sharing your most awesome, wonderful wife with me and for letting me have so much to do with your children, who are quite spectacular. I’m sad that I will miss their milestones but treasure the memories I do have.

I was broken when you told me you were going and while my mind knows it’s the best decision, my heart just can’t agree. I have cried every day since you first told me. I am consumed by sorrow. I have always loved all of you, unconditionally. Thank you for everything – all the laughter, all the fun times and your ridiculous sense of humour. There is so much around here that will remind me of you every day.

Promise me you will live this new life to the fullest. Embrace everything that is New Zealand. I know you will do well there. You will fit in as though you were born there.

This will always be your home. You and your family will always be welcome here.

Farewell, Bon Voyage and Godspeed.

I love you with all my heart and always will.

Your mother.