“We have decided to go to the graveyard before you return home this afternoon,”my Stepmother says. It is January 2004, about 3 months after we laid my Mother to rest. Holy Shit, I think. Seriously? If you are trying woman, you are not very convincing.
“I’m not going to the graveyard with you, sorry, nothing personal.” For f*ck sakes, I think, it is personal but here I am trying to be nice in an awkward way even if it does mean I have to tell a lie..
The truth is, I do go to the graveyard on my way to Joburg, and I still prefer to go alone. By now my Father is fuming, but with all the years of experience I leave him to cool down, no use in lighting a fire that is already lit. It might be a good gesture in his eyes to go to the graveyard, but I’m not buying any of this. She should just stop trying so hard, maybe then we could be friends.
While she was organising her wedding with the money that was meant for the Tombstone, I did the good deed and ordered one because I knew there would never be one if someone does not take action. That is one promise I kept to myself, that I would give my Mother the Tombstone she deserves. That was the last thing I could do for her. If I left it up to my Father and his wife, there would still be a empty space with a number on it.
My Mother was not just a number.
“I’m not going to the graveyard with you, sorry, nothing personal.” For f*ck sakes, I think, it is personal but here I am trying to be nice in an awkward way even if it does mean I have to tell a lie..
The truth is, I do go to the graveyard on my way to Joburg, and I still prefer to go alone. By now my Father is fuming, but with all the years of experience I leave him to cool down, no use in lighting a fire that is already lit. It might be a good gesture in his eyes to go to the graveyard, but I’m not buying any of this. She should just stop trying so hard, maybe then we could be friends.
While she was organising her wedding with the money that was meant for the Tombstone, I did the good deed and ordered one because I knew there would never be one if someone does not take action. That is one promise I kept to myself, that I would give my Mother the Tombstone she deserves. That was the last thing I could do for her. If I left it up to my Father and his wife, there would still be a empty space with a number on it.
My Mother was not just a number.
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