3D REFLECTIONS OF LIFE

My heart is full. Tony Sasman, one of the godfathers of Grassy Park High school, has completed his earthly race. As a teacher he touched lives, as a connector he embraced communities and as a mentor, he helped others like me grow. If Tony had sung one of his favourite songs in that emotionally-charged way as he always did when we had our glorious socials, Are you lonesome tonight?  Do you miss me tonight? Are you sorry we drifted apart?  Does your memory stray to a bright sunny day? I am sure that many of us would have ditched our conventional background humming to this ballad and would have said instead... Yes, Tony, we are lonesome and we do miss you tonigh t because we have to bid farewell to our social connector, relationship builder, father to many and friend to all. You have touched our lives and you have shared your gifts with us so that we can become the caring, compassionate persons we have been destined to be. And yes, our memory does str...

Our life's journey is indeed a series of seasons. People enter our lives, walk part of our journey with us and then follow their own course. Like Geraldine, my sister-in-law who passed on yesterday. Thankfully, we can still draw strength from the legacy she has left us and pay our tributes to her.

My Dad and me Our family took photos wherever we went as well. When we used to go on tour with my dad, we would take tons of photos of every conceivable scene. Every time we stopped to eat, we  would snap away. Many photos showed the same food and the coke and you could only distinguish the difference because of the changing roadside benches or the different angle of the red Corona in the picture. At one point, my dad just growled that we must stop this nonsense of taking pictures whenever he stops to "vriet" ( eat). That word signalled his irritation and we would then slink away with camera, giggling behind a tree or crouch behind the car, mock -coughing at the reprimand. Clowning was the name of the game. Of course, all the private pictures we took of us smoking or doing something weird, were hastily removed from the pack of pictures before giving them for parent scrutiny. Snapshots of memories made lovingly I am glad for this picture-taking tradition. Creat...