JULY 2020 - DEAR EMILY

Hello dear Emily,

 A million school kids were due to go back to school, in stages, by the end of July.  But many teachers and schools were not ready to reopen and there was resistance by the Teacher's Unions

President Cyril Ramaphosa  announced that all public schools will "take a break" for four weeks from 27 July until 24 August. The last batch of pupils in Grades 5 and 8 will return on 31 August.  That meant that you didn't have to go back to school in July, but would need to return by end of August.

You were quite sad that you wouldn't be going back to school with your friends but you understood that it was a risk for you and for your parents.

Your Dad phoned Dr Roos and asked what the implications would be for a person with a connective tissue disorder, like you and your Dad have got, and he suggested that it could put you both at a higher risk as the OI disorder involves all the tissues in the body, including the lungs.  After discussing the situation with your teachers they decided not to send you back to school.  Not only could you catch the virus, but you could bring it home to them.

So from now on, for this year at least, you will have daily online classes with your teacher, and your Mom will supervise your lessons and homework as well as any assessments (exams) that you'll do from home.

On 4th July you and Mark and Tammy, Greg and Finn, went to iMolozi for the day.  You left early and arrived back home at about 6:30pm.  It was a long way to go but such a treat, especially for your Dad.  I didn't go, for two reasons.  One is that we are only allowed 2 people in a 4 seater car and 3 people in a 5 seater car.  Secondly, I get car sick and although I don't mind driving to the game reserve, having a rest after we've checked in, then going out again for a game drive, and spending the night there, I really didn't want to spend 12 hours in the car.

On 8th July my Hard Drive crashed!  I think I've lost nearly everything on my computer, documents and photographs - EEEEK!  I'm carrying on with the blog because I've got some stuff on my external hard drive, some stuff in One Drive and some in Dropbox.  Maybe one day we won't need all these external storage places (we call them The Cloud) and there'll be a better, safer way to back up work.  

You learned how to make meringues!

You started taking online Tap classes from home. 

Just like us, you and your parents don't go out anywhere unless it's absolutely necessary.  We don't go shopping - buying everything online and having it delivered. Mark never goes anywhere but he does take you for a drive every now and then.  Sometimes he lefts you steer!

Your Dad got his new wheelchair from overseas.  He has had the old one for many years and it was starting to fall apart!  His wheelchair is like his legs so he has to have one that works properly.

We drove to your house to fetch the MTN-Hauwei WiFi goodie.  We didn't come in but we were able to see you and Mark's new wheelchair - very smart.

You guys have started growing stuff in the veg garden and these critters were eating all your lettuce!  Your Mom went out at night with a torch to catch them then she let them free into a garden next to the estate!

At the end of the month your Dad dropped off Patty's aluminum garden set that you guys aren't using anymore.  So we got to see you again - WOW - twice in one month!!  I gave Mark a couple of packets with succulents for the new garden you were planning.  It turned out really well!

You had disappointing news about your Bordoodle puppy 😢 The mother isn't pregnant after all.  So Tammy searched around and found a breeder of Labradoodles with two pregnant females.  If they each have 6 puppies you'll have one!  They look gorgeous and you've decided that you'd like a girl and call her Ruby!

With time on my hands I started tracing your family tree.  I've now been able to trace Finn's mother's family back 5 generations. It was much easier than tracing his father's family.  His mother's parents came to South Africa as Norwegian Lutheran Missionaries and the Mission Archives in Norway is a wonderful resource for any Norwegian Missionaries. http://www.mhs.no/arkiv/ Many of the missionaries and their descendants are buried in the Norwegian Cemetery outside Eshowe.

    Gunnar Nilsen and Anny Aadnesgaard

Now I've started on my side of the family. My mother's Dutch lineage on her mother's side goes back to the 1500's but her father's side is proving to be a challenge. And tracing my father's family is even a bigger challenge but I will persevere!

Finn's grand-parents (your great-grandparents)

Next week I will try to find more about your grandfather - Gunnar Nilsen (Gumpie's father).

One day you'll be able to show your children their Family Tree!

Your Mom said today that she is missing Sundays, sitting on our couch, chatting up a storm, listening to Finn and Mark drone on endlessly about sports and Emily doing her dance shows!  

Love you ♥♥