Andre Hartslief
Soon, very soon, I will walk out onto the deck and watch the sunrise over the sea, I will smell the salty-sea-air filling my nostrils with the promise of a bountiful catch, I will steer Maria ll’s bow, South-south-east from Scottburgh’s lighthouse. The Bottlenose dolphin-pod will magically appear on the starboard wake. “anchor down, skipper!” It is a question that sounds more like a command coming from my dear uncle George growling in a gravelly voice, shaped and seasoned by a thousand cold-wet launches off the Umkomaas harbor on the Natal south coast. ‘Aye sounds much better than ‘Affirmative if you ask me, and maintains a long naval tradition, but when repeated, as Aye, Aye, the exclamation takes on further deeper meaning. which says ‘Yes I understand your order’ and ‘Yes I will follow your order’. Just saying ‘Aye Captain‘ means ‘yes I agree with you’.
“Not today, not today, Lads, there’ll be no fishing for a while, while the lockdown is in place.”
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Do you share a prayer for those men and women who have to work?
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Yes
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No
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The image I used reminds me of my only son who I last saw 13 years ago. In so many ways, he was always such a caring boy, then one day, just after his 25th birthday, he phoned us from the UK to say, he has no hard feelings towards us and remains grateful for everything we taught and did for him but he is now with a wonderful family, comprising parents, brothers and sisters and have changed his name and, we must just forget he ever existed… click! went the line.
i am so sorry. what a horrible call to receive.
i wish there were words i could share to make that palatable.
Doc, there are n words to say, given the same situation and heaven forbid this should ever happen to you, I would likely have expressed those very words. It is self-evident to anyone that takes more than a “cosmetic” interest in our fellow writing community, that you, Doc, have a very close and healthy relationship with your children, so, what if I told you that in the light of all of what we term acceptable “normal” standards, my family, can be termed normal, ie no weird stuff, like substance abuse, child abuse, molestation or any of the known anti-social evils, we are just normal! Imagine your son phone’s you with a message like that. Is he still alive? is he well? is he in some or other commune, religious or political? Maybe is trying to get in touch with us, we just don’t know anything. It has drained me, both financially and emotionally. Thanks for caring, Buddy…
we all have to carry burdens and at times those burdens as you said drain us. I would give you the platitudes but why waste your time with those. What happened is bad.
How easy was it for him to do this!!! How could he???
Dear, Grace, just, a big thank you for caring, my friend, many of us here at Virily are victims” of some or other form of deep hurting born through unique circumstance. For me, every night, is like a funeral and every morning is filled with anticipation and hope, maybe, today he’ll walk through the door or phone us to say he is well, over and over for 13 years long…
If wishes were horses beggars would ride. May your wishes be horses.
we stand with those who run towards danger. Those whose first response is not “why me” but instead “how can I help.”
Yes, indeed, I agree Doc. ⚓⚓⚓
A stunning view. How soon you will able to get out is anyone’s guess.
Hello Grace, It’s a metaphor a walk through my mind when things were different for all of us. (See my comment above)
I read that. Sorry you have to go through this.