The Wedderburn Aunts - Dolly

Wedderburn's at Kalkwal, 1957. No one quite ready for the picture.
 Backrow from L; Dad walking into frame, Grandpa Percy, Estelle (Mom), Yvonne, Bobby, Lynn, Heather, Ralph, Dolly
Frontrow from L: David, Ann, Bruce, me, Heather's girls, Ian (kneeling) Shirley with Dolly

Letters for the new Wedderburn Grandchild.

Aunty Dolly captivated all of us during farm holidays.

Stories of her dancing; her thousands of kilometres of travelling to her dance studios around the Free State; her and her pupils successes; her love of the movies and movie stars; her story-telling; her recall for names, dates and events; her jokes; she was glamorous; she drove fancy cars and wrote letters to famous people.

She and Mom spent many hours in the garden at Kalkwal, under the shade of the pepper tree, knitting suits.

To this day her Christmas presents make me smile, utilitarian like a toothbrush or some trinket that never seemed to make it home with us.

I notice from these letters that the Bloem crowd initially thought I was a Cheryll.

Something else I notice is our address in Vanderbijlpark, Guillet Street, an address I know nothing about.

I wonder when we moved to Gillespie Street, the home I remember.

Dolly's letter to Mom and Dad congratulates them 'on attaining your P.A and M.A. degrees'

Oh boy, 'what weight did she tip the scales at?' that question still gets asked year after year, started early indeed.

Mom, Dad and Aunty Dolly, Kalkwal.

A favourite holiday pastime on the farm, was to walk down to the Modder River to go swimming off big rock.

 Aunty Dolly died in August 2014 in Bloemfontein at the age of 87.

Shinel Jacobs, Dolly's granddaughter and Shirley's daughter at Aunty Dolly's funeral.