LEST WE FORGET

The Holocaust Kingdom. life in the Warsaw Ghetto, I come to the last page and I close the  book. I had shed many tears throughout the reading of this true story of a family of 3 who survived for 6 years in World War II, who were separated  yet miraculously found one another at the end of the war.

Parents, knowing that the old, young and sick were to be exterminated, made alternative arrangements for their children outside the Ghetto Walls, in the free sector.

Those who survived Ghetto life with its food shortages and lack of medical supplies were then faced with the first resettlement program. People were chosen randomly and sent to different POW camps in cattle trucks. Some never made it.

The walls were re-designed to make it smaller. Life continued for a while until the second resettlement program got under way. Young, sick and old were shot, and the walls were once again changed to make the ghetto smaller still, less than half the original number were living there at this point.

During this time, the Jews knew that life for them was only going to get worse and the realisation that total extermination  of the Jews had been the plan all along and  they had been living in false hope of ever escaping. The youth formed an underground movement and planned an uprising.  So the remaining residents made tunnels interleading from one apartment to another, until they could move from block to block without being seen or going outside.

It took l week for the Jews to be flushed out of their "warren" and this was done by setting the Ghetto on fire. 

The last of them were sent to POW camps and the Warsaw Ghetto lay deserted.

Their war was an unbearable war of survival, they lived in fear, many feared death and many  prayed for it.

The above photos are taken of the Warsaw Ghetto at the time of the uprising. See the little girl above with her arms up and the soldier in the background. I wonder what life she had, if any.

                              

The man in the picture above is my father. He fought in the Korean War in 1951/52.  I do not know this young man, but he was a young man on an adventure, for I truly feel he did not believe he knew the full horror of what could have been his fate. and I quote:

"Although it happened 56 years ago, it seems like yesterday that we all set off with such boyish zest." Taken from the book FLYING CHEETAHS IN KOREA.

He married my mother and they moved to Rhodesia where he joined the Rhodesian Air Force, and was just in time  to face the war there

It had now become my mother's war.

I still see the worry on her face while he was out clocking up flying hours, night flying, circuits and bumps, and as we lived near the Air Force base, they were flying right above us.  I close my eyes, I see my mom curled up in her chair wearing her red gown, she looks pale and she says "I worry every time he is up there." I was 10 years old and I had been introduced to fear and the knowledge that my parents could  be taken from me. I just never imagined that parents could do that. Loss had not touched me yet. He always came home, but the seed had  been planted in my mind.

I grew up and yes, would you believe it, I married a policeman in the British South Africa Police,

It had now become my war. 

For seven years we lived with call ups of 6 weeks home, six weeks border duty. Worry dogged my every step, life for me trying to raise small children was not as it should be. In fact, it would be correct to say that my mom and I raised them a lot of the time. 

Will my children know their father? Will he walk the girls down the isle? or will we be among the many broken lives left in the wake of wars gone before us, and will the politicians even know we existed?

                                  Pictures of the Rhodesian Bush War               

 Bonds for survival are forged in times of war. Soldier to soldier as they watch one another's backs, wives to wives as they draw towards one another for strength, support and comfort, they become mom and dad to their children, become independent as learn to change plugs, change car tyres and make important decisions on their own.

Whether you have entered into combat. survived years in a POW camp, been a housewife keeping the home fires burning, or a child with no father, you are still a soldier in your own right.

So, take a bow soldiers worldwide, who fought your own wars, winning some, losing some, they  will be with you forever.

They have left their mark on all the little people, the ones who had no voice at all.                                                     

                                                                                    

DISABLED - BUT NOT STUPID

Know someone who is deaf? Blind? or otherwise disabled?

They may be all of these things, and you may try to avoid being in their company, but don't, the next time you find yourself in the company of a disabled person, go to them, turn a blind eye to their disability and see a whole person, a normal, functioning person, treat them with respect, as an equal, for they may be disabled, but they are not stupid, and their feelings can be deeply hurt by insensitive treatment.

In the picture above are deaf children of 5 years old.  They were the pre-school class I taught at a school  which was in Bophuthaswana (now renamed) just outside Rustenburg on the way to Sun City.

As a teacher of children WITHOUT encumberances of any sort, this little group gave me tremendous insight as to the ability these children have, and how they learn.

I taught them spacial development, eye-hand, eye-foot co-ordination, colours and sizes, shapes and all the same perceptive development skills that hearing children learn, but through a different medium.

They had "face names", for example, the little boy holding my son (the white child), his name was "Doctor" called by others by placing 2 fingers across their foreheads. When he was a baby he had a drip in his head and it left a scar. I would catch the eye of someone, put 2 fingers on my forehead, and the message was well understood, about 3 or 4 children would run to him and turn him to face me! So it was with them all.

One day I noticed one little girl with a toy tambourine held to her ear. She was beating a 3/4 (waltz time) beat, her feet kept in time with the tapping on the tambourine and I remember thinking " how does she even KNOW what a beat is and how to dance keeping the correct rhythm. 

Below is a picture of all the children, I had 8, one was absent on this day, and there sits my son amongst them all!

Meal times. Each in his world of silence. They were easy to control and quiet most of the time.

We took them to Pick 'n Pay one day on an outing.  I did not know what to expect - bedlam I think, but was very pleasantly surprised. We all climbed into the back of what looked like a cattle truck, it had a green tarpaulin over it, and the children all ducked their heads underneath to see what the world looked like outside of the school grounds!

Once we arrived in Rustenburg, we all disembarked, arranged everyone in rows and set of on our big adventure. How amazing it was to discover that it was not unlike a trip with any other children, through the medium of signing we discussed the goods on the shelves, the colours, sizes of the containers, what everything was for etc. They were keen to learn rather than run up and down the isles, which is what I had been afraid of.

Most of the children at the school matriculated eventually, learning as much as hearing children, learning braille as they grew older, which of course enabled them to read, opening up a whole new world for them. They could lip read and speak out loud by the age of 10 - 18 years, and eventually many of them become contributing members of society.  Unfortunately, not all of them have the opportunity.

I often used to think "there but for the grace of God go I"

COINCIDENC ES............SO MANY?

Above are the grans, the baby is my eldest daughter Shirley

 

We have just come to the end of May.

May is the month that leaves me exhausted, I feel as though I have spent a month in "Las Vegas on steroids."

It is as though someone rolled 6 dice and only one number came up on them all.

When I have time to myself and am in a reflective mood, I mull over the people in my life, and when  I REALLY have nothing to do, I think of...... well..... useless information? It doesn't teach me anything, but I have a lot a fun with it.

These are some of the people who have left footprints on my memories as they have walked across my life.

The first picture above is one of the two grans (the baby is Shirley my eldest daughter). The gran on the left passed away in the month of May 30 years ago. Her husband, grandpa, lived one year to the month after her until he too passed away.

Then in May last year, their son, the father of my children, and their beloved father was taken from us all in a senseless car accident. Natalia is getting a hug from Grandpa. This photo was taken 5 months before the accident.

It happened in the same week that Mother's day fell, and was an exceptionally emotional time for the  family as we all gathered to pay our last respects, it was also the first time I had all my children with me at one time since they were in school.

The funeral party

That is a lot of emotional activity for one month, one I consciously need to prepare for, and one in which I need to be strong for my children, although I feel broken inside for them. I need much inner strength during  times of their heartaches, and there are many.   I think of  what my mom has been though in her life, and how, with strength and character, she has faced it, and put herself last, and I always knew she come through for me. She never let me down.

OTHER COINCIDENCES IN MAY

Eleven.

My eldest son in law is eleven  years younger than I am, and Shirley, my daughter and his wife is eleven years younger than he is.

 That would be Shirley in the picture above. This photo was taken at her dad's funeral last May.

Shirley was eleven when her brother Brian was born (really). He started class 1 in school when she started matric. 

Above is Brian, eleven years Shirley's junior, and he is holding his baby son Nathan, and would you believe that Shirley's eldest daughter was eleven when he was born!

So ya'll, whose next?

 

13?...An excellent number!!!!

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13. To be 13 was, to me, many years ago, like owning the keys  that would open as many doors as I wanted to.

                                                                  WRONG!!!!!

"I don't want ANY  teenage tantrums from you just because you are a teenager today." Those were the first words out of my mothers mouth before she wished me happy birthday. She could have said it yesterday it is that clear in my mind.

I used the same line on my children when they turned 13 but they did what they wanted to do anyway, however, they joined the human race around 20.

What a downer it was to me though.  Rebellion. (Sorry mom) That set the essence of my relationships with EVERYONE until I was 19 and engaged. By then I had realised that those keys I coveted at 13 were only mine to use when I turned 21, and despite the fact that I was soon to be a wife, I  STILL did not have them.

I did, however, feel very grown up, and that young girl is lurking in the recesses of my mind today as my first grandchild, Victoria-Leigh, turned 13 two days ago. I remember her clearly as she was in the first photo you see above, In the next picture, my favourite one of all, she is super gorgeous, and in the 3rd picture she has about a week to go before the big 13, and she has started her new life with her family in England. Spring over there, and we are going into winter!

I wish for her only good and wonderful things, I pray she will be wise and happy and make good choices in life, and that one day the story of her life with be like a beautiful tapestry, one fit for a King!!

Happy birthday my Angel, you are always in my heart and you are a blessing in our lives.

                              

AMAZING LOVE

"Your FACES - and HANDS...... don't touch ANYTHING!!!

Three sets of eyes look up at me. My children have turned into sticky chocolate brownies.

"Oh my" - I try to sound delighted and surprised, "You found all the Easter bunnies chocolate eggs hidden all over the garden!" Three chocolate brownies smile at me, I see 3 sets of snowy white teeth fighting their way through the chocolate (I think of Colgate) they are well pleased with their cleverness and the obvious approval they have from me. I think to myself "It is so easy to make them smile and give them joy, as the years go by it will be a lot harder, as they experience life's hardships,  to experience such  joyful spontaneous pleasure. But for today, let us enjoy the chocolate, the bunnies, the egg hunts and the hot cross buns that we know will be served with tea."

In the photo above, they are 1, 2 and 3, almost 4 and it is Easter of 1979. They are sitting on the lawn of my mothers house in Salisbury. Gran has made them each a little basket full of lovely treats, sweets, and chocs.  As I look at this picture I think of her amazing love as she has lovingly put each one together, with each child in mind, to bring them joy.

That was HER joy, giving, but more especially creating what she gave. She gave projects like this her time, thought, and planning. She invested in the children greatly and passed on her love of creating unique gifts from the heart.

Easter is a time of rebirth and the most important on the Christian calendar. So, despite the fact that they believed in Easter bunnies and chocolate eggs as small children, they grew to learn of Jesus amazing love, and the sacrifice he made for them on the cross of calvary.

Have a blessed Easter.

GOLDEN OLDIES ............

I have loved John Denver's music all my life, so when my daughter Shirley uploaded a video clip from You Tube I was DELIGHTED, and what lovely footage too. 

Great taste she has, she was paying attention during her childhood! Another one of my many favourites is Country Roads, you might see that too sometime soon!

I stole this clip from Shirley's blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

After listening to it you can, if you feel like a musical evening with John Denver, just go to the bottom and choose your songs!

May the sun shine on your life.

OTHER LIFE STYLES

My daughter and her family emigrated to England earlier this year. Shirley put this on her blog as she was so interested in the Amish lifestyle. I was fascinated and thought you would like to see a snippet. I delved a bit and this is what I found. This is only l episode.

The Amish people in America are an old religious sect, direct descendants of the Anabaptists of sixteenth-century Europe. Not to be confused with the term anti-Baptist, these Anabaptist Christians challenged the reforms of Martin Luther and others during the Protestant Reformation, rejecting infant baptism in favor of baptism (or re-baptism) as believing adults. They also taught separation of church and state, something unheard of in the 16th century. Later known as the Mennonites, after the Dutch Anabaptist leader Menno Simons (1496-1561), a large group of Anabaptists fled to Switzerland and other remote areas of Europe to escape religious persecution.