To dear Grandpa
You and I have shared some really wonderful memories during the years that we have known each other. There is no way I will ever be able to say just how much I love you and appreciate every step of the way that our lives have been joined together. Here are just a few of the memories that I will always hold dear to me. Please forgive me for only being able to write about so few of them but believe me, the others are all safely tucked up in my heart!!
I REMEMBER...
- Being really young the first time that we came out to England to visit you and Granny. Our first trip arrived with me having a boyish-cropped haircut (compliments of my brother) and a black and blue finger (thanks to the toilet door). Luckily I learnt my lesson and our travelling history during the past 15 years has not been as exciting!! I remember being surrounded by lego given to us as our Christmas present and I said to Graeme one night as we were about to fall asleep, “Graeme, I wonder if God will let us bring our lego to heaven with us when we die?” Oh, the joy we had with our roller skates – flying down your driveway at a rate of knots giving you all grey hairs and dad having to make cardboard outers to prevent our shoes getting ruined beyond repair. How we loved our time in England, watching the horses in the paddocks near your house, walking along Brighton Pier, eating roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and getting to know you and Granny in our young lives.
- The thrill Graeme and I would feel when we knew that you were coming out to South Africa to visit us. We still don’t know how you put up with our teasing whenever we drove past the sewerage works on the N2 and cried out, “Poofie Grandpa!!” visit after visit. I loved the mornings when I could knock on the door in the out-side room and bring you a cup of tea before I had to go to school. I would much rather have sat on your bed listening to all your stories than getting to my class on time.
- All the fun times swimming with you in the pool and surfing at the beach (made even more fun when you lost your swimming short in a freak wave!). I remember watching you bake in the sun before taking us to buy ice-creams at St James.
- How happy we all were when we heard that you were immigrating to Cape Town. Mom and I would go to all the show houses on a Sunday and imagine our joy when we found a house for you just a stones throw away from Bertram Crescent. I remember cycling round to visit you after school only to find out that dad had long since beat me to it with his “drinksie” stop at 12 o’clock! I also remember how the two of you would sit on the porch while you trimmed his beard for him every few weeks. (Just an excuse for another chat and drinksie stop if you ask me!!) You were always so house proud and were always out maintaining the garden or helping granny wash the dishes after our delicious meals at your house (that includes her “lumpy custard”!!).
- The most magical day of my life when you were able to stand in for dad and walk me down the aisle on one of the most important days of my life. All my friends commented on how proud you were and how lucky I am to have such a fantastic granddad. This is definitely something that I thank my lucky stars for every night!
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT YOU
- Your beautiful (sorry, handsome) face
- Your dark suntan in your bowling gear
- Your generosity, kindness, honesty and openness
- Your warmth, support, caring nature and being able to cry at the movies
- Your ease and sincerity at which you always tell me how much you love me
- Knowing that I have made you proud (and only you could have thought of having my medals framed)
- How much you care for Granny and the way you go to the end of the earth to make sure she is well cared for and looked after
- Your friendliness and the way you can start up a conversation with anyone that you meet
- The way you love your hugs and kisses
- The way you have accepted Antony as part of our family and the way you two can talk for hours about cricket and rugby. Let alone your passion for a good bottle of red wine!
- The way that you have always tried to build up my confidence and make me feel secure in myself
- The way you are able to accept the changes taking place in your life and to appreciate everything that you have got. To be able to look back on your life with so little regret and to know that you have lived your life to the fullest!!
With all my love forever
Joanne
