Aunty Olga

 

As the note says, this post is in loving memory of my Aunty Olga.

    I remember her - and all my other aunts and uncles - as icons of my childhood. She was always so helpful, kind, and strong. She spoke with a gentle authority, toned with a crisp but sweet German accent.

    When she and her family, Uncle Derrick and my cousins Beverley, Leanne, and Gavin, would come down to my Uncle Eldred's beach house every year in December, it would be her who would walk with us children on the beach in the dusk of the day. What beautiful memories those are.

    I only saw Aunty Olga once a year for a couple of weeks, so I didn't know her as well as I would have if she had lived closer to East London. I looked forward to the December school holidays every year, knowing my family from Natal would be coming down to the coast to spend time with us. All my mom's brothers and sisters, their wives, husbands, and children would gather every year without fail.

    I thought those days would never end. I didn't know that time would cause us to all drift so far apart that only funerals would draw us together for a brief, sad moment in time. I thought all my aunts and uncles were immortal. It seemed that they would always be there.

    But alas, death is part of life. And one by one I had to say goodbye to my aunts and uncles. Now, out of all 10 of them, only my mom is still living. 

    On Thursday 9th April 2024, my cousins and I gathered once more to say farewell to my Aunty Olga. It was a beautiful but sad occasion.

    I will be planting my Forget-Me-Not seeds in 2 separate pots. I shall keep one and I shall take the other one to my mom, so she too can enjoy the beauty of those tiny blue flowers, in loving memory of my Aunty Olga Bosch.

    Thank you Beverley and Leanne for making your mom's goodbye so tranquil and meaningful.

    As we stood around drinking tea and eating cupcakes after the chapel service, it was so good to be around all of you again - there were one or two of us missing, but most of us were there - and to chat about the joys of our shared childhoods. We were all saying how good it would be to stay in touch. I hope that we'll find a way to do that.

    Life has taken us all down many winding roads, but we should all remember that life can never be taken for granted. We should love the living while we can. The love that the three of you had for your mom is obvious. She was blessed to have you, and you were blessed to have her.

    May her memory be forever a blessing.

* Penny *