I'm going to share my life journey with you lot. While reading this I want you to know how lucky you are to be alive. If things aren't going as well as you imagined they would when you were 15 then this story is for you. You will find a little of yourself in it.
I was 8 when my parents both died in a train crash on their way home from Gauteng. It was the 24th of December and I had been counting down to that day for weeks.
When the day finally arrived I was counting down the hours. I remember falling asleep while I was waiting for them and when I opened my eyes my grandfather was standing right next to me watching me sleeping.
He was still wearing his work suites. He worked at a farm not far from where we lived. Like any farm worker his clothes and boots were dusty and his hands were dirty. I remembered I was waiting for my parents soon as i opened my eyes so I ran past him.
I was hoping I'd find my parents resting in their room. Much to my disappointment they weren't there.
I missed them so much, my grand mother walked into the bedroom and broke down the sad news. I have never in my life cried that much although I was young I understood very well that I'd never see them again.
My grandfather's boss Meneer Van der Merwe was a very kind man but he was pretty old and so was his wife. My grandfather worked for the Van der Merwe all his life, during the holidays I'd go work with my grandfather at the farm. I loved working in the sun, I enjoyed getting my hands dirty and my forehead sweaty.
The van der Merwe farm was my place of refuge, my cornerstone. When I was in grade 9 Mrs Van der Merwe passed away. They say she had cancer, such a good woman with a big heart.
Their 15 hectare farm had all kinds of fruits and vegetables.
My friends and I had big dreams, I've always wanted to be an Accountant. I was very good with numbers so my teachers encouraged me to go for it. My two best friends had dreams of their own as well. A Doctor and an Entrepreneur.
When I was in grade 10 Mr Van der Merwe's son and his wife came to South Africa to fetch their dad. My grandfather was super sad and so were the other workers. Mr Van der Merwe gave the farm to my grand father and said to him "I pushed you to work as hard as I did and wanted you to work closely with me because I knew I'd give this farm to you when this day came ".
He gave the farm to him, just like that. The farm still operated but it was slowly becoming a shadow of what it used to be until it finally was just a plot. We had moved to the van der Merwe's house now. I saw how depressed my grandfather had become, he was ageing too. One night when we were sitting by the fire he said Edith the day your grand mother and I die, this farm will be all yours.
That night I turned and tossed thinking of what I'd do with such a place.
Yes, I sometimes worked in the farm but that didn't make me a farmer. What do I know about fruits and vegetables? Matric came and went.
A year later I found myself at the University of Limpopo in a first year Crop Production class. Yeap I registered for a four year crop production course.
