A few of my fellow Rave Reviews Book Club members who have read Fauna Park Tales’ stories might have noticed that the series is written for two of my favourite children. As it happens (of course) my grandchildren. Here my granddaughter is almost one year old, and already able to give me a serious stare . . .
My granddaughter is thirteen years old today, and I can hardly believe how fast she has grown or really, how fast time has flown by. We were living in Durban, Kwa-Zulu, Natal, South Africa, at the time, and we did a lot of travelling – about five hundred miles between Durban and Johannesburg – most school holidays and a few weekends a month to see more of this special little girl.
Not long after she turned one year old, her parents moved to Botswana, and then it became a real challenge to see her often enough. So, in the end, we uprooted and made a new start in a foreign country – roughly for about six years. The two of us became inseparable. Since she was a toddler, she sat quietly in my after-school English classes and started to speak well from an early age, learning to read even before she attended Grade 0.
She has also inherited my bookworm tendencies – something which has been a good thing at school where she has excelled in all her subjects.
In the end, we had to make a decision to emigrate to the United Kingdom, as work was getting more and more localised, so we came here in November 2013, and this time, my daughter moved too. By now, we had a little grandson as well! I was happy that they decided to come with us, because not long after we arrived here, my daughter became a single mom, and quickly had to find gainful employment. I’m not sorry that we made such a big move when most folks are thinking of retiring because I’m happy to have been around for most of the time to see my grandchildren grow up and to be a support for them too. Here are a few pictures of us – me, my husband, my eldest daughter and grandchildren, my younger daughter and my son-in-law – spending time together; far from South Africa yet still together.
This certainly has been a momentous week in the Botha Family because my eldest daughter worked and studied for the past few years, and she graduated this week. So, we have a lot to be thankful for!
Thank you so much for popping in at my blog today. I appreciate your support very much. Please feel free to comment and/or follow us here and at https://marethmbotha.wordpress.com if you wish.
Maretha, my youngest daughter is expecting my first grandchild in December! I’m excited and this post was very timely. Thanks for the pictures, too. 😄
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Dear Linda, I’m so happy to hear that you’re going to be a grandma soon. Your life will change dramatically, that I can tell you for sure. 🙂 I feel very blessed to have had both my grandchildren in my life for most of the time. I am close to both my daughters, but a grandchild gives a completely new dimension to your life. I felt that they gave me a new lease or outlook, I suppose, on life because suddenly I had to go and fetch kids, help a bit with their homework and projects – stuff like that. The real bonus is when they also show an interest in your writing – your best and your worst critics! All the best to your youngest daughter and your family. Maretha
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Congrats to your daughter on her graduation! Happy birthday to your granddaughter, too. How wonderful you are all together!
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Thanks so much, Denise! Yes, everything happened in one week, but I’m amazed how things turned out that we all ended up in the same area – Lancashire. If you asked me about such possibilities even ten years ago, I would’ve said, “Never!” 🙂
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Thank you, DL. – a belated reply, but I always appreciate your interest and comments. 🙂
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Lovely to meet you, Maretha. I am always pleased to meet South Africa authors. The UK is where we plan to move within the next two years too.
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What a lovely surprise, Roberta. Yes, moving is not that pleasant, especially when moving continents. I sometimes wonder whether it would have been even more difficult if we moved directly from South Africa, but we lived in Botswana for a few years before deciding to take the plunge, leaving Africa. Kind regards and all the best with your future decisions. From which part of South Africa are you? I should probably not ask this question here, but if you wish, we could DM on twitter https://twitter.com/MarethMBotha 🙂
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Thank you for your well wishes, Maretha. I am in Johannesburg which is a fairly large city.
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We lived in the Western Metropolitan side of Johannesburg (West Rand) for more than twenty years, then work took us to Durban before we decided to move to Botswana to assist my eldest daughter with her after school mental arithmetic and English Development programmes. I suppose we would still have been there if constant issues with work permits and other documents didn’t constantly keep us on tender hooks. 🙂
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Red tape and adminstrative issues are always a problem in Africa.
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