Your warmth
Wraps me
In love
Everyday I am so encouraged by the wonderful writers on WordPress and the amazing community spirit. I feel strengthened daily by the support of strong, positive, talented friends that I have made. This evening I received the most wonderful surprise, and feel so overwhelmingly touched that I would really like to share it! I have to share it, because I’m bursting with the news, I can’t keep it inside! My daughter was excited to find a parcel in our letter box, and couldn’t wait for me to arrive home to open it. Her dad wouldn’t allow her to as it was addressed to her mother. Can you imagine our surprise when I finally arrived home, and it felt like Christmas! Inside the parcel was a beautifully wrapped gift, so amazingly thought out, I have tears in my eyes! A collection of not one gift, but a whole parcel of different items. My daughter was able to guess a book, and ‘something soft’. We opened it to discover a book of Rumi poems, a beautifully bound journel with Old Istanbul depicted on the front, traditional design table cloth and pillow set, a handwritten letter, and a card with the most gorgeous kitten on the front! So much kindness and love in one parcel, that I do not have any words to express the meaning it has for me. All thoughtfully packaged my dear friend Nia. (Am sharing with permission). Nia has a soft, graceful, beautiful spirit and can be found here:
She is also a cat lover! Thank you, dear Nia, from the bottom of my heart. And also from my daughter, she has already announced that she will cherish the pillow set forever. I am going to have a fight to get them back from her!
Blue skies and cloud
Kaleidoscope heavens –
Eternal grace
During my last year of high school, the six school leaders were invited to apply for a Saturday reception job at the local optometrist. I grabbed the opportunity, actually, I believe I was the only one that did so. Which was good, because I can safely say I probably needed the money the most. It was wonderful, I started that very Saturday, and continued right through my college (university) years. The hours were from 8am to 12 on a Saturday, and the pay was enough to provide all my pocket money needs, pay for driving lessons, and whatever else I had need of. The lady I reported to was wonderful and supportive. Her husband was a lecturer at the local university and ran all the consultations at the practice. In my first year working there, I was still unsure of what to do after school. He tried to encourage me to study optometry, but try as I might, I could not get it to grab my interest. It looked totally boring working in a tiny office, marking off consultation after consultation. And having to deal with all the people and their issues. (Can I be left alone?) The wife’s job looked perfect. She ran the practice, made decisions, sorted the post, made sure everything ran smoothly! Could I have her job? In hindsight, perhaps they might have offered to sponsor me in part. I went on to study Computer Science and Applied Math instead.
The only drawback with the job is the candidate should have been bilingual – fluent in English and Afrikaans. My Afrikaans is so weak, I tried but most patients would revert to English once they heard my poor attempts. And also some of the early morning Saturday starts were difficult once I started dating and having late Friday nights!
Every breath I take
Leads me further
Further from the
Love we made
From stolen
Moments
Shared
From each
Memory
Every breath I take
Leads me closer
Closer to a
Heart set free
Where you
No longer
Have a place
Where you no longer
Inspire the words
From inside of
Me
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Romance is passionate
And so are you!
Roses are red
Violets are sleek
If I offer you my face
Will you kiss my cheek?
Roses are red
Violets are fine
If I admire you from afar
Will you one day be mine?
Have a day filled with love!
I was brave when I fell pregnant for the second time (my first pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage). I decided to take on nature and ‘be one with it’. I can so do a water birth(!), I figured. So I dragged the lucky husband to class, invested in a birthing ball, and selected the ‘best’ maternity clinic in Johannesburg. I dropped my doctor who was chief advocate for Caesarian sections, and enlisted the services of a wonderful midwife whom I had read about in a maternity magazine. The big day arrived and time to put everything into practice. We arrived at the clinic at about 5am, and after a quick examination the midwife declared that we could have baby out in about an hour. An hour? I repeated. There’s no ways I’m ready for a baby in an hour. And then my contractions started real bad. She offered to run the bath for me but there was no chance I was leaving the security of solid ground. I don’t want to see a bath. Or water, I told her. That’s fine, she replied, and left me to my contractions. There was nowhere to go, but on the floor and cling to the bed. The bed was on rollers, hospital style, so even that was not providing adequate anchor to my body that was about to explode into a million tiny pieces. Husband was hanging around, not knowing what to do. Just leave! I asked him. He’s not going anywhere. I eventually pleaded, take the birth ball and get it pumped up. He, of the male species that did this to me, the enemy. I wanted the ball as much as I wanted the bath, but if he didn’t leave the room and soon I was going to murder him. With my bare hands. The midwife returned and I begged of her. Please! Put a gun against my head, I would rather be dead. Kill me now! Cut the baby out, just make it stop! She called the anesthetist, who was stuck in peak hour traffic. He finally arrived and administered an epidural. After a couple of hours it was time to push. A few minutes before noon, my baby was born. I looked over and saw a tiny grey body, not making a sound. Is he alive? Yes, he was alive and I was Mother. And after that, I decided I will Never do that again. And I haven’t! Some things you do once, and learn your lesson. Caesarian section with my daughter, and a walk in the park.
I haven’t seen the inside of a box of cigarettes lately, but when I was growing up, there was always a loose piece of paper at the top. My late mother used to always roll the paper while she was watching something on the television, or reading a book. I guess it kept her hands busy. Other times she would be quite adept at knitting, but if there was no knitting happening, out came the paper rolling!
My quirky habits include talking to myself aloud. It happens often. I also have a habit of pulling out my hair. Quite literally. I search for any straggly ones and if I discover one, I yank it out! All these straggly hairs started when I was pregnant, must have been a hormone thing that stayed. Or maybe that’s just when I first noticed them. Some strands look like alien strands. Where did this hair even come from? TMI, lol! 😀
My dear friend Belinda from busymindthinking had surprised me with a review of my PDF. It is with a heart of gratitude that I share it! ❤️
It was my father’s birthday yesterday. I felt it quite strongly as I am so far away, and no idea when I will see him again. I called to wish him, and he was standing in his local supermarket. He no longer works, and his age is starting to show. The manager at the supermarket offered him a complimentary cake to celebrate his birthday. My father took great pleasure in standing at the counter, and being able to choose a birthday cake for himself. There is often so much negativity that emanates from South Africa, the corruption and crime. But yesterday an old man was blessed with the gift of a birthday cake from a stranger who cared.
Poems and Petals 