I opened Facebook on Monday to be faced with sad news. A friend from my youthful single early years in Cape Town had passed away. His wonderful wife Margi left a loving tribute.
I met Brian at Holy Trinity Church, Gardens when I started attending in 1983. I was just 18 and he was about 31. I felt like calling him Mr. Shackle. I remember one of the first times I saw him outside of church was in the centre of Cape Town. He was riding along on his scooter and waved cheerfully at me. I got to know Brian a lot better after my heartbreak. He became a wonderful caring friend. There we both were. Pretty miserable. Single. Lonely. Waiting for our life partners to arrive on the scene. I so remember him calling me one evening at the nurses’s home and, finding me gutted and horribly depressed, he insisted he come and pick me up. We ended up in a small restaurant on a side street in Sea Point drinking coffee at about 2am, commiserating about how miserable our lives were. It was wonderfully therapeutic for me. After that, we spent a bit more time together. I would go to his Vredehoek flat and he would show off his synthesizer – such a new and zooty music machine of the day! He was so musically talented. Music and his camera were never far from his mind. We went out on a couple of excursions – I remember going to Cape Point with him and also around the coast past Strand along the road to Rooi Els. We sat and had a picnic in the shade. This is my only photo of Brian. Taken, it appears in Muizenberg in about 1984….
You never got many photos of Brian – he was always the one behind the camera.
Soon my broken heart healed and Mike arrived on the scene. Brian was so happy for us and I was very quick to ask him to be our wedding photographer.
He did such a brilliant job, really capturing the joy and essence of our wedding. Those photos are a legacy to his talent. Mike and I moved to Paarl and I fell out of touch with Brian. But one day, I was back in the city for a funeral and our paths crossed.
He had news.
With a smile on his face and a sparkle in his eye, with joy radiating, he announced, “I’ve met someone!”
About that early conversation about Margi, I learnt one thing – Brian was smitten.
“This is the one,” he said.
I was SO happy for him.
Margi had arrived.
She was perfect for him.
Our paths crossed over the years, but it was Mike who probably saw more of Brian as they were both working at the City of Cape Town.
I did see him a few years ago when he was the photographer at a Valentine’s dinner. Even with health issues, he was always ready to serve.
And now Brian is in heaven where he can enjoy perfect health and all the amazing musical talent he enjoyed on earth can be given new expression in the presence of a multitude of angels and before his Heavenly Father. He WILL enjoy being there.
I will always think of Brian with warmth and appreciation.
“‘Gathered to his people’ is a beautiful Old Testament expression for death, hinting Reunion with Loved Ones beyond the grave.” (Henry H. Halley)
There are many who have gone before who will have welcomed Brian’s arrival with joy. He once said to me, “Helga, there is something that your son and I have in common.” I was baffled. He continued, “We are both are sons of fathers who were the General Secretary of the YMCA.” I’m sure his parents would have been first to greet him on his arrival.
To God be the glory for his life.
Numbers 27:13
“… you too will be gathered to your people…”
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Helga xx