Over the past few days, Lara and I have mulled over all the memories we are so lucky to have of Granny. For as long as we can remember Granny was always around and we feel privileged to have spent so much time with her while growing up.
Saying that, it wasn't always easy having another adult telling us what to do and how to behave but with age comes perspective and we wouldn't change that for the world. Each of you here have special memories of Granny Honey which I am sure you will treasure. We thought we would share a few of ours.
So get your glasses with a shot of white wine, a cup of water and copious amounts of ice ready – just the way Granny liked it!
Before Granny moved into our home she lived in a flat on what felt like the highest floor ever in Kenilworth. I vividly remember the journey across the Swartrivier as we journeyed to visit her – that same journey I would later drive every day to university and would think back to those visits.
When she did move to Edgemead, our parents gained a full time babysitter – much to their delight. Granny took this responsibility in her stride. Mom decided to start up her sewing empire during this time forcing Granny to spend hours on end watching us. Growing up in the sunny Cape meant this involved watching Lara and I swim the days away. We only realised later in life how sensitive Granny was surrounding swimming and the game of ‘let’s pretend we’re drowning’ was not as fun for her as it was for us. To this day this haunts us and we cannot imagine how awful we were.
On drier ground and given Lara and my inability to connect with people our own age we turned to Granny to be our friend. This included hours of Rummikubplayed sitting at her rocking chair. I would always encourage her to go to the loo before the game started, affording me the opportunity to shuffle and deal the cards. Granny was obviously a card maestro in a previous life as she still somehow managed to win even though the dealing had been doctored and I always landed up with all the jokers.
Lara and I both inherited our appetites from our Gran. She never shied away from a good meal. That being said her cooking left much to be desired, aka her lumpy mash potatoes and cheese on crackers. Dad clearly won the lottery when he met mom with her incredible cooking skills, however it was Granny who taught momthe ways of a good Yorkshire pudding. Saying this, if there is one dish that we will always remember and miss it would have to be her rice pudding. When asked to write this in Lara’s recipe book a few years back the instructions included ‘small pieces of butter’ and ‘place rice in a bowl’ – informative. Having tried to replicate this dish, Lara has fallen short of Granny’s glory, however, we will both continue to try and perfect this as we grow older.
Granny also loved a good meal out as long as it was MacDonald’s or fish ‘n chips on Blouberg beach or Spur garlic snails and ladies sirloin. This had to come with a sparkler and a sing-a-long even if it wasn’t her birthday. We can’t say she had a taste for fine dining but she did have a taste for fine jewellery. Granny loved a bit of bling and she passed this love onto me. She always insisted that she had her jewellery on before leaving the house. This included a very special emerald ring that from an early age Lara called dibs. Granny proceeded to tell everyone she met that this ring was for her red-headed granddaughter. She also gave both Lara and I a set of coffee bean earrings and pendant, which as children we had no idea what they were but now as London has developed us into coffee snobs (partly by choice, partly necessity) these pieces have become more and more important to us.
Lara and I clearly never inherited the charm that Granny had on the men in her life. There were occasions when that lady was juggling many suitors. She would dance the night away with a new man every weekend but none took her fancy until Jac came along and even that required excessive amounts of work on his part. Jacslowly worked his way into our lives, starting with Monday night dinners, progressing to lifting Lara and meto various afterschool activities and ultimately convincing Granny it was time to leave her sons home and move in with him a grand total of 900m away. The convenience of this location afforded Lara the opportunity to run away from home after a fight with mom and dad. Upon arrival at Jac’s house, she was swiftly turned around by Granny and sent right back home before mom and dad even realised Lara had left.
Lastly, Granny was a party animal - often the first on a dancefloor and the last to leave a party. She knew how to have a good time. Particularly she loved a good dress-up party - with outfits ranging from cowgirls to Indians. Not only did she love to dress-up she also took a fond interest in one of my friends at my 21st who came dressed as an Avatar, in head to toe blue. To this day that same friend of mine and I find ourselves laughing at how granny tried to dance with her all night long.
So at 92 years, 11 months and 9 days Granny has lived an incredible life and we are all the richer for having had her play such a big part in ours.
Her favourite... Maggie May - Rod Stewart
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