I haven't been very good about blogging over the past several months. Part of it is my own failure to just sit down and make time and part of it is the pressure I've been putting on myself to constantly write long, humourous, involved posts. However, there is something that I read the other day that was a timely reminder... You don't have to post a long post when you blog, just say something. So. Here it is. Something.
Until nex...
Ok. I'm kidding. I would never leave you with just that and even though the nature of this post will be somewhat serious, I can't seem to stop just a little light-heartedness from creeping in. I've given the ladies the night off (something I'm sure their livers will be grateful for) and asked Ruby and Phin to pop in tomorrow. You see, I want to reflect on two people that I loved greatly and who are both now gone. This is not an easy topic, but one that I want to address.
I would like to very briefly mention my two Gran's. My Ouma (my Dad's Mom) died a few years ago, but my Granny (my Mom's Mom) died only a few weeks ago and was buried this past Tuesday. I did not spend nearly enough time with the first due to the distance between her home city and ours, but the latter lived with us when I was a child. Both were amazing women who had such strength.
My Father can cook, clean & sew better than most women I know thanks to her revolutionary (for the time) ideas that my Ouma had that boys should be well prepared! It didn't hurt that she was a Nursing Sister and so was a working Mom. With 4 growing boys, she wouldn't have a lot of time to do all that was necessary, so they were taught to pitch in and help. She also worked hard to stretch tight budgets and cook creatively - something that continues to inspire our creative kitchen endeavours today!
My Mom learned all the usual skills, but the stuff that stuck was the sewing, baking, knitting and other home crafts. Her upbringing was strict and loving (same as my Dad), but she was also given some freedoms that helped to shape her life. My Gran - the woman that I knew - was shaped in part by her experiences of being in a POW camp in Indonesia during WWII. She always had a sense of economy and hated to waste food. It also made her quite practical about a lot of stuff... something that I have come to respect in later years.
It is my Granny that took the lead in inspiring this blog because I so clearly remember her cooking or baking or making jams. From fun days out picking wild blackberries to eating fresh baked apple and blackberry crumble several hours later... Well, I thought she was a magician! She also loved to knit, sew, crochet and garden. I could go on for hours and hours about them both... but I won't do that here.
Suffice it to say that I believe that the strength of your blood comes from the ingredients that go into it. It's what we get from those that came before and what we will ultimately leave for those that have yet to come. I have the most amazing parents because their parents were moulded the way they were and in turn... I am the person I am due to the lessons that I've learned.
So - to my Granny and my Ouma - thank you for being just exactly who you were and for shaping me. I am now officially no longer a grandchild as you've all passed, but there is no void... you filled it with your experience, your love, your inspiration and the children you left me who are my parents.
Until the next time I find myself Just Like My Gran...
