Letters to my Grandchild

It was Gumpie's birthday on 8 April - he turned 81 years old.  It was our 55 year anniversay on 12 April.  And then it was Sharon's birthday on 29 April.  Lots of celebrating! Alex wanted  Gumpie and Sharon to have rainbow cakes so that's what we had. We went to grand-parents day and his sports day.  It was fun watching the sack race,  obstacle races  and football games.   You dropped a prop on your nose and broke it.  Ouch Em, I know how  that feels. It didn't stop you from performing with El Norte - and being awarded the most imporved in the JV.. Sometimes I take screen shots while we are talking on Whatsapp.  The photos make us look as though we were together, which we were in spirit. Do you remember the Checkers Mini Shop groceries.  You collected them from everybody and swapped duplicates at school.  You used to have a 'play-play' shop and we had to buy from you - with real money! But soon you put the prices up too much, and wanted our purchases back, so we

Hello my darling, It was lovely to be with you in your new home for a few weeks.  We wanted to see that you three were all OK, see where you lived, where Mary and Tammy worked, you went to school and hopefully meet some of your new friends.  We were able to do that.   Del Norte hosted a Colour (you spell it color) Guard competition and we helped out at the school for a couple of days.  It was lovely to watch you in person, rather than in  a small cell phone screen from 10500 kms away! Gumpie soon found his spot to sit in your lounge and I found mine,  next to Ruby’s cage on the couch.  It was great to meet  your friends and the lovely couples your folks have made friends with. On 5 March we started our Groot Trek home.  We weren’t looking forward to it and when you left us at the airport I was missing you already.  The security had to open the Paw Patrol toy box to examine the contents but they sealed it up tight afterwards. Tammy lent me her feet hammock to try in the plane and they

 Happy New year my precious girl!   We had a quiet New Year, with a small family braai at home.  And are now concentrating on our holiday!  We bought $3000 to take with us and it cost nearly R60 000.   In 1970 the $ was less valuable than the ZAR and we used to pay about R0.75 for $1.  We paid R2 for every £1 when we went to England in 1974.  The South African Rand is like Mickey Mouse money! Our travel itinerary for our trip to San Diego and return was 41 hours traveling there and 36 hours returning to South Africa.  It was exhausting.  Too many airlines, too many arrivals and departures and too many hours crammed into a small space in the plane.  The food on Delta was awful and we won’t fly on them again. Hopefully one day it will be faster with lower flying times and better airlines!  But it was all worth it when we saw you at the airport in San Diego and I had a few moments to give you a big hug!   Your Mom left a box of stuff she wanted but didn’t have space to pack when you