A lesson forgotten

As I left my home this morning, the air was filled with a particular smell. It’s hard to describe this smell, but it’s only there during spring time. This particular smell always reminds me of my grandmother (on my father’s side). She was an amasing woman. Probably the most beautiful woman I ever had the privilege of knowing.

 
So on my way to work this morning I had this flood of beautiful memories of gran. She was a very tiny, little woman but had such a huge heart. I cannot remember her once getting so angry that she had to use foul language. She was loving and caring and she loved to bake. I loved her baking, especially her homemade bread. She would always bake in the morning and when the bread came hot out of the oven my dad and I would be in gran’s kitchen ready for our first slice. The butter and apricot jam would melt into the bread, and that for me was heaven J

For the first 11 or so years of my life we lived on a farm. I grew up on a very Afrikaans farm and by the age of 11 my parents got a divorce. We lived in the beautiful house my dad built for my mom when I was around 3 or 4,  and then across from our home was my grandparents’ home. We all lived together on the farm. My childhood was spent mainly in gran’s kitchen, and I loved sharing my dad’s first morning cup of coffee with him in gran’s kitchen. So many good memories happened there.

One of my best and most cherished memories are the ones where every afternoon after lunch my grandparents would go lie down for a nap, whilst listening to their favourite story on the radio. The story was called “Wolwedans in die skemer”. I would crawl in between my grandparents while my gran would gently stroke my face, while the 3 of us listened to our story. Sleep was never far off for me during those moments, and that for me is the ultimate definition of unconditional love.

My gran taught me the beauty of unconditional love, of caring for others. She taught me the comfort of a hug, the calming effect of a friendly smile. She taught me that you can overcome anger, fear or doubt with love. She taught me how to love, and today on my way to work her memories reminded me of that lesson again.

 

I remembered what it means to love again, a lesson I fear I sometimes forget…