It was 1980 and we lived in (the then) Rhodesia. We made our own entertainment as I have mentioned in "Anyone for Tennis??" and were probably more social than folk living in cities.
One morning I took my small girls aged 3, 4 and almost 6, and went to visit a friend of mine. Triangle is a sugar estate and the temperature and humidity can be extremely (unbearably) high. It was on such a day that we went visiting, so we closed the doors and windows, put the airconditioner on, played some records, "records" you will find in the dictionary for those who were born after that era (kidding). The children played outside.
It was a large garden, no dangers, or so we thought, and we could watch the children from the window.
It is when we least expect it that disaster strikes, and are not prepared for things to go awry.
The door flew open and Michael, my friends son who was the same as Shirley, 6, shouted to us. I could't hear what he was saying due to the music, but it took only one look at his horrified expression for me to know that something was very very wrong. We ran outside and there, standing on a steel "grate" of sorts, was Shirley. She was screaming in fear and pain. I looked down at her legs and I remember thinking "what are all those white streaks on her legs". Upon closer inspection, I saw that the "white streaks" were burst blisters.
She had followed a kitten and sunk up to the top of her thighs in burning coals. She had grabbed onto the steel frame (thank goodness it was there) and pulled herself up, stopping herself from sinking further.
Our water was heated by coal burners which were stoked twice a day, so when it needed to be done again, the old coal had to go somewhere. Most people buried it and put sprinklers on top to cool it down, but coals buried retain their heat for very long time.
Shirley spend 3 weeks in hospitl and it took a further 4 weeks before she could walk again. She lost all the skin on her legs and only had the thick skin on the soles of her feet left. She was to be taken to Salisbury General Hospital for skin grafts as all the white patches had no blood flow going to them so no new skin would form. After 3 days the blood was flowing. She did not have to have the grafts. The doctors were wonderful, and people prayed for her. Her scars were red and "angry" but today they have completely faded. The skin texture has changed but no one would know they were there unless they knew the story.
In 1978 we went on holiday to the Eastern Cape. My sister-in-law and her 3 boys joined us for a family picnic on the beach. We were near a lagoon which was safer for small children. We watched them closely as there were 6 of them in the water. We turned to put up an umbrella and upon turning back to see that the children were alright, my sister-in-law studied the water intently and asked "what are those bubbles?" It was Kerry, my 2 year old daughter who had lost her balance on the uneven floor of the lagoon and fallen. It had happened in the blink of an eye. The bubbles came from her feeder cup she was holding. We would never have known she had fallen under the water if it weren't for the bubbles and and my sister-in-law noticing them amongs all those children. We came so close to losing her.
"FOR HE SHALL GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE OVER THEE, TO KEEP THEE IN ALL THEY WAYS" Psalms : 91:11
In 1984 we very nearly lost Lisa. After a wonderful day with friends in Blairgowrie, Johannesburg, we travelled home to Pretoria. Our speed was not over the limit but deadly to anyone falling from a car travelling at half that speed.
We turned off the highway. I looked back at the children, no, it couldn't be, but yes it was, she had been fast asleep on the journey home, slightly leaning against the car door - which was not shut, but slightly ajar. At any time she could have moved and fallen out of the car onto the highway. How could we have been so careless as not to check the doors properly.
In 1985 my son Brian was born. I fed him myself for a year. He was the only child of mine I was able to feed for so long.
Within 3 weeks of me changing him to formula he became violently ill. Tests showed that his immunity system was so weak he would never have survived on formula from birth. His paediatrician said that the only thing that saved him was breast milk, the alternative were gammaglobulin injections. She would not give them to him because of the aids risk at the time as gammaglobulin is made from a blood base. He was put onto an aggressive treatment which he remained on until he was 9 years old. He was hospitalised 5 times due to severe chest infections, had his tonsils and adenoids removed at only 19 months, all before he went to school.
I don't believe we have guardian angels, or that they are even celestial beings. Hebrews tells us that angels are God's messengers or representatives, and that many of us have entertained angels without knowing it.
THE ANGEL OF THE LORD ENCAMPS AROUND THOSE WHO FEAR HIM, AND HE DELIVERS THEM
Who were my angels, the Doctor who tended Shirley? My sister-in-law who astutely saw the bubbles? Was protection given Lisa when in our humaness, we did not check the back door? My body's ability to be able to feed Brian for 1 year when I had failed to do so with his sisters? Wisdom given to doctors?
Who are your angels, and have you entertained them without even knowing it?
Friday, November 27, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
HE LINKS MY WORLDS
Ever since I can remember I have loved animals, from a mouse to an elephant. Fascinating.
I remember smuggling mice into my bedroom cupboard when in school, I collected spiders in jars and ants in boxes, had a cameleon and a praying mantis on my curtains too. My poor mother can corroborate this and probably more, like the day I was 6 and I presented my mom with an arm full of chongalolos. I was delighted with my find but my mom was mad about the mussed up blouse she had spent hours making. If there is a medal for patience and endurance in the face of ongoing testing of a mothers patience, it belongs to MY mother, ok?
After I married, not much changed. There were always dogs, cats and birds. Then one day a very different visitor came to stay, and stay, and stay.......
Crunchie.
Crunchie is a tortoise and he was named thus as he was very small, only a handful, and looked not unlike a meat pie.
I bought Crunchie for R20 from my oldest friend's son, who was in primary school at the time. My son Brian wanted him, he was 7 years old.
We made a cage at the bottom of the garden for him, but within a few days the ants had found him. I dusted him off and brought him inside the house until I plan could be made for his housing. He was not put in a box, but on the floor and I would find him later.
That was 17 years ago and Crunchie simply blended in with all the cats and dogs.
He learned that the fridge contained food, and that the best time to get it was 5ish when grub was up for everyone, even the inhabitants of the animal kingdom. How do they all know that?
He became very tame as time went by and only used his shell to hybinate in during the winter months. He would seek out the sun spots in the house and stretch out his back legs, stretch his arms up, lay his head on its side and close his eyes as he slept. The first time he did this I thought he was dead, but now I know better!
He would vanish in May and reappear in October. We wouldn't know where he was and he was very difficult to find . Being so small he would find an old slipper or an unused shoe and sleep in it for 5 - 6 months.
I see to it that he eats well during the summer months to sustain him during his fast during the winter.
He likes apples, his favourite, cucumber, and chopped up carrot. I treat him to prickly pears from time to time as he loves them and they are very nutritious for tortoises. Bananas are a bit squishy and he gets it all over his beak and face as he tries to get it all off. I have to clean him up afterwards as by now it is all over his "hands" too.
The children grew up and left home and my husband and I went our separate ways. My husband had custody of Crunchie until he remarried, at which time Crunchie came to me and my 2nd husband.
Nothing has changed much in Crunchie's life, it's still all good for him, he is now widely traveled as he can be popped into an appropriate handbag. This is done when moving from from one place to another. No one even knows we have him.
In Summer he sleeps in the corner next to my side of the bed, during the day his life goes on as it always did, he still knows what's in the fridge, he now bites our toes and heels for attention. He has done this to unsuspecting visitors too so we all have to visit with our feet off the floor if we don't want blood shed! His beak is very sharp believe it or not.
He is a favourite with everyone is our little creature feature, children and adults alike. I have even been offered money for him! We now put him away when we have guests or he has the floor literally.
It is an exciting day for us today. My little friend has come out from the back of a cupboard where he was hybernating. Actually, I had to drag him out as it is November already. I have been leaving the cupboard open hoping he would see the light on his own - ha, ha, and realise that it was time to rise and shine, but he never WAS a morning person.
We have moved during his hybernation period and I saw tonight with horror that he was almost impossible to see against the carpet, and since Andy had his stroke we have had enough accidents around here without Crunchie tripping us up too. So I cast about for something to help make him more visible. There it was, the best I could do at a moments notice, Crunchie is walking about with a pink "stick it" on his shell!
However, time marches on and Crunchie with it, he shows no signs of shuffling off this earth so I need to make provisions for his future! I could not send him to strangers who do not know his ways.
So I ask my four children, who would like to inherit Crunchie? I fear he has become the family heirloom and I probably won't have much else to leave anyone, except this little shell full of memories.
I remember smuggling mice into my bedroom cupboard when in school, I collected spiders in jars and ants in boxes, had a cameleon and a praying mantis on my curtains too. My poor mother can corroborate this and probably more, like the day I was 6 and I presented my mom with an arm full of chongalolos. I was delighted with my find but my mom was mad about the mussed up blouse she had spent hours making. If there is a medal for patience and endurance in the face of ongoing testing of a mothers patience, it belongs to MY mother, ok?
After I married, not much changed. There were always dogs, cats and birds. Then one day a very different visitor came to stay, and stay, and stay.......
Crunchie.
Crunchie is a tortoise and he was named thus as he was very small, only a handful, and looked not unlike a meat pie.
I bought Crunchie for R20 from my oldest friend's son, who was in primary school at the time. My son Brian wanted him, he was 7 years old.
We made a cage at the bottom of the garden for him, but within a few days the ants had found him. I dusted him off and brought him inside the house until I plan could be made for his housing. He was not put in a box, but on the floor and I would find him later.
That was 17 years ago and Crunchie simply blended in with all the cats and dogs.
He learned that the fridge contained food, and that the best time to get it was 5ish when grub was up for everyone, even the inhabitants of the animal kingdom. How do they all know that?
He became very tame as time went by and only used his shell to hybinate in during the winter months. He would seek out the sun spots in the house and stretch out his back legs, stretch his arms up, lay his head on its side and close his eyes as he slept. The first time he did this I thought he was dead, but now I know better!
He would vanish in May and reappear in October. We wouldn't know where he was and he was very difficult to find . Being so small he would find an old slipper or an unused shoe and sleep in it for 5 - 6 months.
I see to it that he eats well during the summer months to sustain him during his fast during the winter.
He likes apples, his favourite, cucumber, and chopped up carrot. I treat him to prickly pears from time to time as he loves them and they are very nutritious for tortoises. Bananas are a bit squishy and he gets it all over his beak and face as he tries to get it all off. I have to clean him up afterwards as by now it is all over his "hands" too.
The children grew up and left home and my husband and I went our separate ways. My husband had custody of Crunchie until he remarried, at which time Crunchie came to me and my 2nd husband.
Nothing has changed much in Crunchie's life, it's still all good for him, he is now widely traveled as he can be popped into an appropriate handbag. This is done when moving from from one place to another. No one even knows we have him.
In Summer he sleeps in the corner next to my side of the bed, during the day his life goes on as it always did, he still knows what's in the fridge, he now bites our toes and heels for attention. He has done this to unsuspecting visitors too so we all have to visit with our feet off the floor if we don't want blood shed! His beak is very sharp believe it or not.
He is a favourite with everyone is our little creature feature, children and adults alike. I have even been offered money for him! We now put him away when we have guests or he has the floor literally.
It is an exciting day for us today. My little friend has come out from the back of a cupboard where he was hybernating. Actually, I had to drag him out as it is November already. I have been leaving the cupboard open hoping he would see the light on his own - ha, ha, and realise that it was time to rise and shine, but he never WAS a morning person.
We have moved during his hybernation period and I saw tonight with horror that he was almost impossible to see against the carpet, and since Andy had his stroke we have had enough accidents around here without Crunchie tripping us up too. So I cast about for something to help make him more visible. There it was, the best I could do at a moments notice, Crunchie is walking about with a pink "stick it" on his shell!
However, time marches on and Crunchie with it, he shows no signs of shuffling off this earth so I need to make provisions for his future! I could not send him to strangers who do not know his ways.
So I ask my four children, who would like to inherit Crunchie? I fear he has become the family heirloom and I probably won't have much else to leave anyone, except this little shell full of memories.
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