It’s quite difficult working at my desk all day, getting square-eyes looking at a screen and then taking a break to do my blog, which entails sitting a bit more looking at a screen. The other thing is that when I’ve been doing hours of work, there’s not much else happening for me to reflect upon.
As I look out of the window behind my screen, I’m watching a crane going backwards and forwards, still compacting the ground in preparation for a new development that’s planned for the area. It’s very overcast and we are waiting for a cold front to make landfall.
Sometimes when I write my blog, I am reminded of Granny. She used to write long 8 page letters to her beloved sisters telling them all that was going on in her life. I often used to say to my children, ‘give Granny things to write about.’ They would go and visit her in the cottage we built for her in the back garden and would tell her what happened at school and things that they had been doing. Whether or not she ever passed that on to her family in her letters, I’ll never know.
I did discover, however, that sweet Granny used to tell her family lots of things she was doing for us. She told them of her gardening exploits and how she cooked for us every Tuesday and made crunchies for the children’s lunchboxes. What else she said, I’m not sure, but I once had a conversation with her youngest sister, Sally, when she came to visit. Sally was 20 years younger than Granny and naturally quite protective over her. She began to get the impression that we were sort of using Granny as our own personal slave…that we were expecting her to do too much. Sally went onto to explain that was the very reason she had invited Granny to her home in Grahamstown – to give her a complete break and a nice rest.
Some time before the conversation, Sally had said she wanted Granny Eve to visit her. We booked a flight and arranged a wheelchair and Granny was flown off to Port Elizabeth, collected by Sally and had 5 weeks of glorious rest. On the last evening, Sally’s daughter was sitting with Granny and said, ‘So, Aunty Eve, have you had a lovely rest?’ To which Aunty Eve replied, “I don’t know what your Mom would have done with out me!”
Sally was mortified! What was Granny going to tell us when she got home? Would she tell us that Sally had put her to work?
Sally quickly understood that Granny had a need to feel wanted and helpful and sometimes what she wrote just sounded a little more than it really was. She WAS very helpful for us, but if she did work hard at our house it was of her own accord and not something we made her do.
When Sally came to visit and we had that conversation and she told us what Granny said at the end of her 5 week rest, we both roared with laughter.
Sweet, sweet Granny. How we miss her!
At the end of her life, her remaining siblings were so appreciative of Mike and I in caring for her and making her as comfortable as possible.
It was an honour.
Leviticus 19:32
“‘Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.
These are the days!
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂