"S'il vous plait...dessine-moi un mouton!"

My book, inscribed from Florence in May 1987.

I wrote this commentary from Anne M Lindbergh in my copy of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Le Petit Prince:

The Little Prince comes down to earth from his miniature planet, touching several other worlds briefly en route. He is confused and distressed by what he finds on these outer realms. He meets a king who only wants to wield authority; a conceited man who lives for applause; a businessman who counts the stars; a geographer at a desk with his nose buried in scientific data; and a lamplighter, obeying outworn orders. None of these planetary beings can give him any reason for their occupations, or any sense of life. 
At last, on Earth's African desert, he meets a snake and a little fox who give him some answers. What is the point of life? What is essential?

 "What is essential" says the little fox, "is invisible to the eye, one can only see with the heart."

What is important are the bonds that link us to one another in a concept greater than oneself.

There was a moment in France, while we were watching the production of Le Petit Prince in Paris at the Lucernaire, that I felt connected to the language, I felt understanding happening and in my letter to Mom I write: 'We were quite enchanted and just so proud of our progress that we could understand the play!'

Fred's Mom had offered to babysit and we had taken ourselves to the theatre to see this French classic, and it has stayed with me, the experience, the illustrations, the story and the expression; 'S'il vous plait...dessine-moi un mouton'.
"So you can imagine my surprise when, at daybreak, I awoke to a funny little voice, saying "Please... draw me a sheep."

My mother-in-law comes for a visit

Fred's mother in Paris, July 1987

Summer at last, the little plastic pool.

On the 6th July 1987, I was loving the long, wonderfully hot and sunny French summer days, throwing open the French doors, Shawni was running freely in the garden and Barry was happy to play in the little plastic kiddies pool that we bought for them.

And my mother-in-law, Greet Kersten was visiting.

Fred and I have a delightful image of her using a ladder to scale the fruiting cherry tree in our garden just outside the summerhouse, she was so happy and Fred so alarmed that he was going to miss out on the warm, ripe cherries.

She did enjoy making the summerhouse her little home and popping into the house to use the bathroom. She was strong, loved going into Paris but I do see from the letter that I was tiring her out
'we walked the length of the Champs Elysees and Rue de Rivoli'.

'Shawni ranged from enthralled to terrified'

"The kids had spent a year on the project"

One of the pleasures of having the littley's with us in France was finding special places, shows and exhibitions geared for children. I remember loving it all as much as they did.

I see from this extract of one of my letters sent to Mom after our boating holiday on the Charente in the June of 1987, that we went to a marionette show at a 'chapelle' in Saintes, which is in the Charente -Maritime province.

Each young boy had made a puppet as an art project, then a story was written around the puppets. What a creative idea, will let Inel know as an idea for her school too.



So 'Barry was wide-eyed, Shawni ranged from enthralled to terrified, especially when the narrator has a bad dream and life-size, weird looking puppets come on stage." 

Nearly time for Shawni and Craig's visit

This time last year we were 'roaming around the USA' as Shawni's Postcard says. What I love is the symmetry of time. This time last year Fred and I were anticipating Shawni and Craig's visit and here we are a year later doing the same, just in a different part of the world.

Last year they spent two weeks with us in Oregon and Montana, a glorious adventure taking in Mt. Hood, Portland, Seattle and Yellowstone National Park. Since then they have moved to Wellington, New Zealand and they are popping back to Johannesburg for some family time.

Cannot wait.

Their wedding Thank You Postcard is so original and reflects the attention to detail around their wedding. It truly was 'the most magical and special day'. A perfect day.

Saying yes to a wedding invite

The Kersten family came to Africa from Europe on the Zuiderkruis, June 1958

When I met Fred in 1977 I had no hint that he was not South African and it came as a real surprise to me when he first spoke Dutch and introduced me to his family in Zimbabwe.

His father came out to Rhodesia in the late 50's to make a new life after the tough post war years in the Netherlands.

Fred Snr came out to Rhodesia about 6 months before the family. With hindsight, so courageous.

We have this document which is a little gem, Fred, the 'alien', arriving in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland on the 3 June 1958, a little soul of 8, not speaking a word of English.

The family came across from Europe on the Zuiderkruis, his mother, his 2 brothers, Hans and Henk and his 2 sisters, Elly and Louise.

I can imagine what a handful they must have been and what fun they must of had. Fred remembers dressing up and playing hide and seek on board and just never being found.

Even though Fred had a large extended family overseas, he grew up not meeting or knowing his relations, except his grandmother who did visit once.

When it came to planning our wedding we sent invites to all his relatives in Holland.

I have this postcard from Fred's Mom sent from Queenspark, Bulawayo to my flat in Berea on the 26th March 1979, she is very excited to share her news: 'Surprise, surprise, you no who is coming to your wedding? Tante Roet and Ome Piet, your fathers brother and sister.'

Having the two special and unexpected guests added a wonderful dimension to our ceremony and a happy time for Fred's father.

Ian Wedderburn my cousin, who was our Master of Ceremonies, even prepared a piece in his speech, in Dutch, to welcome them.

Saying yes to the wedding also got us interested in seeing Ome Piet and Tante Roet again, as well as getting curious about the bigger family.

During our travels overseas during the eighties and when we lived in Paris, we had loads of fun spending time with the extended Kersten clan in the Netherlands, meeting most of Fred Snr. brothers and sisters as well as cousins along the way. We even had the opportunity to meet Fred's mother's sisters who were still alive in 1982.

We went past his birthplace in Amsterdam, other houses that he had lived in, churches he knew, we ate foods that he recalled like 'poffertjes' and 'zoute haring', enjoyed fields of tulips, watched windmills turning, ate rounds of glorious cheese, travelled the length and breadth of the country and had many sociable meals with the family in their homes.

A lovely time.

We slowly lost contact with the extended family during the busy nineties, raising our own family, working hard at work and life in general. The older generation has mostly passed on now, with Tante Lies, the oldest sister dying last month in her early 90's. An era has passed and I am pleased we made the touches when we did.

Social media has been useful to keep in touch with the cousins and Peter Kersten and I make good use of Facebook to stay in touch.

Shawni and Barry have a clear sense of their Dutch roots from their father which they value and this pleases Fred.

Elizabeth Taylor in London, April 1981

Growing up in Vanderbijlpark my exposure to the theatre, live shows, musicals and music was non-existent.

Entertainment was listening to the radio, playing my 7" singles or LP's and every now and again a visit to the local bioscope, which I think we called the 'bughouse'.

While at Wits University I went to see the performance of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' starring Bruce Millar, Alvon Collison and Richard Loring at the Great Hall. Only word to describe how I felt was enthralled, my first live show and first musical.

Each time we travel I make sure to book a show. Over the years we have seen wonderful musicals in London, New York and here at home - the ones I remember were Phantom of the Opera; Cats; Billy Elliot; Queen; Les Mis (although I fell asleep); A Chorus Line; The Lion King; Hairspray; Starlight Express; Evita; Jesus Christ Superstar; Godspell and my latest favourite Kinky Boots on Broadway, last July for my birthday.

During our second trip to Europe in 1982, also a holiday and business trip for Fred, I booked my first London show at the Victoria Theatre, which starred Liz Taylor in The Little Foxes. I have the postcard I wrote to Mom and Dad that I had booked tickets for the Friday, I have the program, the tickets, but I need to make a confession, I have absolutely no clue what the play was about, it has not stuck as a remarkable experience at all.

A night at the Victoria Theatre, Friday 23rd April 1982

"I start again a life without Dad."

Fred and Greet Kersten, Fred's Mom and Dad through the years.

1981, Fred and I had been married for a couple of years and we were living in a delightful cottage in Grove Road, Mountain View.

1981, the same year that we travelled to Europe for the first time, meeting Fred's family in Holland was, however, also a time of great loss for the Kersten family.

This tiny little Thank You card sent to Fred and me at number 6 Grove Road, from Zimbabwe on the 27 November 1981, tugs at my heart.

Fred's mother is deeply mourning the loss of her husband Fred Kersten and she writes how she is battling to do the routine things in her life, 'In the beginning I burnt my potato's and I didn't no how to make spinacie'.

She is also finding solace in these same routines though, 'Yesterday I was making nassie goreng 6 o'clock in the morning on a Sunday, did my big wash and was finished 8 o'clock.'

Fredericus Maria Kersten

2 December 1926 - 12 November 1981