Tonight is a farewell for a dear friend. Rosina Manaka has worked for our family since 1976. On Wednesday she’s retiring and will go to her house in Polokwane. She has been part of our family for thirty years. It’s odd to think that this person who has been part of the fabric of our daily lives will be five hours away from us. Rosina or ‘Nanna’ as Tayla calls her, has helped to raise me and my brothers Dirk and Francois.

One of my fond childhood memories is Rosina’s habit of preparing a Christmas bath for me and Dirk (even when it was May) – this basically entailed a very full bath. Now in hindsight I realize that the full bath meant a lot of splashing and a lot of cleaning for her. I know that Rosina performed thousands of little acts like these in the thirty years that I’ve known her.

This woman (she is now almost sixty) has seen us grow up before her and I’ve wondered more than once what her perception of our family is. I hope that she sees us as loving and ‘other’ than the caricature of the Afrikaner during the Apartheid-era. As I type this we’re almost leaving for the dinner. I’ll take some pictures and tell you more …