Saturday
Dear Elsie
Today was the day we drove to Port Elizabeth. I woke up early and went for a spider-webby morning walk around Carmel’s boundary. The grand architects of invisible strands had woven them across path after path and I spent the walk brushing ticklish fibres off my arms. I also made sure I visited and photographed the Carmel chapel.
By 7:50am we were in the dining room having breakfast. An old acquaintance from the mid- 80s, Brian Edwards was also there, so we had a quick catch up. By 8:30, we had bid farewell and drove out the Carmel gate shortly thereafter.
The Garden Route is beautiful – after George comes Wilderness, Sedgefield & Knysna – all majestic and well worth visiting.
Last night a name came to mind we haven’t thought of for years. “I wonder what’s happened to Dave and Marianne”, I said to Mike. I’m going to Google them so over dinner last evening, I looked up Dave and found him to be selling property in Plettenberg Bay. Dave and Marianne were close neighbours when we live in Paarl. In fact when I went back to work when Stacey was 1, it was Marianne who was her day-care Mom. We were close. Her first daughter was born on Mike’s 40th birthday. I found Dave online and sent him a message through his internet page. Off it went into the great world-wide-web – never for me to know if it would arrive. Imagine my surprise when this morning I got a message back saying ‘where are you?’ This resulted in us stopping to meet them at Harkerville Saturday Market a few kilometers before Plett. What a fun and unexpected very short reunion. It was a case of 20 questions, most of which began with ‘what happened to?’ Over cappuccino, we caught up with children and parents, careers and homes. A micro-visit of grand proportions. We covered a lot of ground in no time at all. With their cell phone numbers safely in my contact list, we bid a cheery farewell, promising to connect again in the not to distant future.
Our onward trip was entirely uneventful. What’s interesting is that although PE’s name has changed (to Gqeberha – the name of a local river), all the signage along the N2 remains Port Elizabeth. We swept into Monica’s retirement village shortly after 1pm. Monica is Mike’s sister and not long ago she was told she only had 30% heart capacity. We expected to find her very housebound, but were pleasantly surprised to see her able to walk around and even come up her complex’s little hill to meet us. She got us comfortably ensconced in the guest room of the main building, before we were all bundled into her son Dean’s car for lunch with him and his brother. I think Stacey and David’s cousins are about 48 and 46. We had a lovely lunch together. This is Sean, Monica and Dean.
Monica is looking frail but doing so much better than she was. What struck me was how much she looks like Granny! So many of her mannerisms and the way she talks – so much like Mike’s Mom.
So it’s been a busy day. This evening we will have some visit time with Monica and then early tomorrow morning, we will head back along the N2 with Swellendam in our sights.
Psalm 42:8
By day the Lord directs His love, at night His song is with me—
The best is yet to come – we are only passing through.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Gran xx 🙂