Sauls Family Reunion celebration on Heritage Day

Finally, we pulled off our Sauls Family reunion on Heritage Day this year. There we were , the Sauls descendants of Maamie and Paapie Sauls, aka Hendrina and Andrew ( or is it Andries) Sauls. Our only surviving aunt, Aunty Henna, was our guest of honour. Aunty Henna kept the tradition alive by opening our event with a prayer, a bible reading and the singing of a chorus.

Then Hilary led the war cry. Give us an "S", she bellowed and we followed enthusiastically. When we had completed our war cry, the hall was on fire. We are the Sauls Family!

Sauls Family Branch Members with the vegetables symbolising our rich heritage

Blast from the past

We had an awesome time together and the young ones thoroughly enjoyed the information about their great, great grandfather and grandmother. We hear that Paapie had 5 children from his first marriage and then he married my grandmother, Hendrina Alexander and they had 7 children. My dad, Peter, was the youngest and he was known as Boeta to his nephews and nieces. Our grandfather was the “koster” of the NG Kerk in Tokai.  Then most of the family owned property in Diep River and where Lavender Hill is today.

This is the uncomplicated bits of the Sauls family tree.  There is such a rich tapestry of events that can energise the film and novel industries for decades. There are  volumes of  drama, suspense, thrillers, comedy and chick flick plots underlying all the Sauls escapades! Lekker… I am thrilled to know that our elders lived a full life and experienced all the thrills and spills of real life.

Circle of Prayer and Thanksgiving led by Willie-Boy

History repeating itself?

I was so amused when Willie Boy, my cousin from Uncle Baisie’s branch said that he often meets members of the family during his working hours as an Ambulance man. I can just imagine somebody lying there with Willie Boy trying to extract history from the one who wants to see a doctor rather than take a trip down memory lane. Then, when Randall, my Aunty Henna’s son who is a policeman, said that he probably picked up his own cousins on his rounds, I cracked up, spewing the liquid in my mouth straight into the air! What a colourful group we are – truly a rainbow family where history is repeating itself!

Tony, another cousin from the Lenie Branch, still clung to his opening request that we collect money and donate it to the poor. He put his money where his mouth is and there I was, walking with Tony’s R20 tucked deeply into my track pants pocket from 11h00 till late afternoon.

Then when it was ‘pack-up’ time, Tony promptly asked me for his folded R20 and tucked same into the pocket of his boardshorts that was kept - fortunately - firmly in place on the hip bones. Again, Tony sent out his appeal which struggled to come out between all the stuttering and the swaying of the Charity Angel. Fortunately all of us knew the refrain by now, so Chris, Tony’s brother, confirmed this commitment and quickly stomped the chorus with two words: Daai’s genoeg (that’s enough)!

Peter Sauls Branch Gallery 

Johanna Sauls Branch Gallery 

Lenie (Helen) Sauls Gallery

 Tracing family roots is not for the weak, but Family Reunions are for All of us

Anyway, the Sauls Reunion turned out to be a fantastic bonding occasion. We sang choruses like in the old days,laughed and joked, played dominoes and braai’d together. Even the programme became a highly flexible arrangement because whoever wanted to say something, just took the floor and did his(her) thing.

Let me confess, though: I have renewed respect for all those folk who track their family history right down the centuries. It is a painstaking exercise, really a labour of love to find your deep roots! I have decided that I am happy to settle for a family history starting with our great grandparents, else I will have to give up my day job to go- a -hunting.

Sauls Family listening to the history of our forefathers