Once upon a time, on a farm in a small Eastern Cape village, a very special baby was born, Anna Elizabeth. Everyone called her Lily - our Lily of the Valley as her family would say.
My story would not be complete if I did not tell you how I came to be in this world, so please bear with me if I veer a tad off-topic.
Lily came from a musical family and married the handsome, kind, and talented musician, Malan, who wooed her with his guitar playing. He went on to play many other instruments as well, all self-taught!
I was the eldest of five children, and the only girl. I often think just how lucky I am to be the daughter of parents who thought outside the box, and made us believe, by example, that anything is possible, even though the purse strings were tight.
My Mom and Dad made magic with the little they had! Mom was a stay-at-home mother.
Going through Mom's old photo albums, took me on a nostalgic journey, but there were hardly any old photos of us together when I was a child.
We always had a special bond, and Mom was more like a sister to me. As I was the only girl, she would often sneak me a special treat while my four brothers, who were real rascals, played outside.
They say dynamite comes in small packages, which was true of tiny little Mom Lily.
My Dad was like a gentle giant Teddy Bear, and we all knew we could not take chances with Mom, as she was the one to deal out the punishment.
I'll never forget how one of my brothers climbed to the top of a tree and sat there till Mom had calmed down, and went back to the kitchen to use the wooden spoon for what it's meant to be used, and that of course is baking, not spanking!
This is one of the last photos I took of Mom helping me with baking.
A brain tumour compromised her balance, so she would sit in 'her' chair and press out pastry, or roll little balls of cookie dough.
I inherited my love of baking from my Mom and Ouma; Mom's specialty was bread and pastries. She was very patient with my attempts at 'helping' her and my Ouma, but that's how I learnt. She would pretend not to see my brothers and me pinching cookie dough, to a point, of course!
The kitchen was our happy space.
The aroma of bread baking in the oven would greet us every day after school. Mom always baked two loaves as my brothers' friends would come over to play touch rugby and tuck into that hot bread.
Her Milk Tarts and Lemon Meringue Pies were legendary, both recipes passed on by my Ouma.
Despite having to stretch the budget, Mom always made extra to pass on to a friend or neighbour.
Mom Lily was quite the entrepreneur.
Dad on the other hand was the inventor and built a vending pushcart, repurposed from something on wheels, I have no idea what, but, it worked.
She made the most delicious meat pies, crumpets sandwiched with jam, and jaffles. Her loyal employee, Mary, used to push the cart and sell it at the nearby textile factories. Mom had to employ someone else to do the household cleaning. Mary eventually worked for me for many years after I got married.
Mom Lily could make a meal fit for a king, using basic ingredients, her motto was, 'Use what is in your pantry before running to the stores!'
This lesson never sunk in until Covid hit our shores when going to the stores all masked up, became an unpleasant task.
She could be called a minimalist pioneer and would periodically empty her cupboards of unnecessary belongings, and give it to someone who could make use of it.
Mom was a jeans and takkies girl, who did not enjoy sewing and knitting, but loved playing with decor around the home, always moving furniture around, repurposing old stuff, and changing the colour scheme. She loved painting, not artwork, no, painting walls, and she did this till her late sixties!
Mom Lily was generous, kind, resourceful, health-conscious, had impeccable taste, was a deep thinker with a sharp wit, was fiercely independent, and reached the big milestone of 90 years.
A legend, who overcame many tragedies, touched countless lives, and wanted to make the world a better place.
I am immensely thankful to be Mom Lily's daughter!
Image edited using Canva - my own photographs
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