Tuesday
Today was the day…
I had a good working day – 7 hours. Mike went off to the build – he came home at lunchtime and then went back for the afternoon.
I spent time working and was at home the whole day. I didn’t go to the build as I had Skype appointments both morning and afternoon.
When we bought our current house in 1989, one thing it did was give me a great sense of security. We were putting down roots. It became our family home. Starting off as the worst house in the street in an area that was considered Fish Hoek’s poor sister, we paid R67000 for it. I remember the guy that helped us move from Paarl to Sun Valley saying, “Wow, is this all you get for R67000 in Cape Town?” It’s so expensive!
It was a less than exciting house, but Mike could see the potential and from the very first few months, he set out to put his mark on it.
He pulled down the wall between the lounge and the kitchen to make it open plan. Put a bay window in the kitchen, built in the stoep, put on a garage and built in the original one – by then David was just over 2.
That was just the beginning of renovations and extensions that included building on top of the double garage and were to last up to 2002 when we had the cottage built out back so Mike’s Mom aka Granny could move in.
31 years – it’s been three decades of roots getting deeper and deeper. Three decades of raising our family. Stacey was 18 months old when we arrived here. I bought David home from hospital to this house. They grew up, went to local nursery schools, Sun Valley Primary School, Fish Hoek Middle School, Fish Hoek High School and University of Cape Town – all while staying at this house. Stacey got married from this house and David called this place home for at least 21 years. Granny broke her hip and moved into the house in 2009 – she lived with us until 2013. She moved from this house to the Ladies’ Christian Home who looked after her for the last 7 months of her life.
The roots are deep and now we are planning to uproot.
Those roots. I feel the wrench as I walk through the house. I’m so pleased I’ve got time to let it go. It’s such a strange feeling. We are moving to a mountainside retreat with an extraordinary view of the sea – this is something I want to do – yet it doesn’t stop the emotional wrench as I leave behind this life-time of memories in order to make new ones. After all, this is just a building. The precious lives that have made me the rich person I am today are not here. Life moves on. It doesn’t stay the same. Mike and I will start a new life on the mountainside with Julian there half the time as well. It’s going to be exciting and surreal.
I’m so glad that for the moment, this house will not be sold – there is no rush. We can move at our leisure. The best is yet to come.
Corona stats – July 2020 –
- Thursday 9th July – 13674 new cases – this was the highest daily number, so I’ll leave it up. I’m waiting for us to have a massive spike.
- Tuesday 14th July – 10496 new cases – 174 deaths (146279 recoveries/147667 active)
- Wednesday 15th July – 12 757 new cases – 107 deaths (160693 recoveries/ 145903 active) Recoveries have overtaken active cases.
- Thursday 16th July – 13 172 new cases – 216 deaths (165 591 recoveries/ 153 961 active)
- Friday 17th July – 13 373 new cases – 135 deaths (178 183 recoveries/154 607 active
- Saturday 18th July – 13 285 new cases – 144 deaths (182 230 recoveries/ 63 701 active)
- Sunday 19th July – 13 449 new cases – 85 deaths (191 059 recoveries/168236 active)
- Monday 20th July – 9300 new cases – 140 deaths (194 865 recoveries/173590 active)
Total cases: 373 628 Total deaths: 5173
Hebrews 12:7
“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His children. … God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Braces:
1 year and 251 days