November always reminds me of my Granny. Annie Magdalene Loots, otherwise known as Madge to her friends, Granny to me. Her birthday was on the 4th of November.

My Granny was a very knowledgable woman with strong opinions. She never made it to High School because she was forced to drop out and look after her family. In return, she was given the house she lived in until she passed away. Here’s her Std 5 class photo…

To this day, I am incredibly proud to tell people that both my Granny & Grandpa were captains in the Salvation Army. In fact, My Granny’s house was right next to the church in Bez-Valley. Here’s an old wedding photo of them, dressed in their Salvation Army uniforms…(yip, they wore black)

There are many days when I wish she was still alive and I could be sitting with her, drinking tea, munching on home-baked vanilla sponge cake around the big kitchen table.

I remember…

• The 10am and 3pm tea times
• The huge pink gown she used to wear after her baths
• New Year’s eve when we stayed up late to watch ‘The Sound of Music’ together.
• The trips to the Jo’burg Gen.
• The weekly shopping at the butchery (I can still hear the meat being cut).
• The spagbol on Saturday nights.
• My Granny’s roast potatoes.
• Rhubarb growing in the garden.
• Lemon pudding with custard.
• The Vespa.
• The 3-Quarter bed my grandparents slept on.
• Granny cutting up liver with scissors to feed the cats.
• Cheese Naks hidden in the sideboard cupboard.
• Never missing the News on TV.
• Listening to stories of her sisters and Betsy Anne.
• She only ate meat on Sundays (ahead of her time with meat-free Mondays).
• She wore an apron every single day of her life.

My Granny was 84 when she died 11 years ago. Having been diagnosed with Mycenae Gravis when she was 12 years old, she never let it get her down. She was a woman with very strong values and would always speak her mind. I’d give anything to sit and listen to her stories, just one last time… I miss you Granny!