Wow! What A Reconnection!

[Michael Alexander]

Wow, I have just put the telephone down, after speaking to a lady on the phone for one hour...... The lady in question, is none other than my God Sister, Gillian.... Whom I last spoke to in 1987...... The family connection is as follows..... my mum and dad emigrated to Simonstown/Glencairn back in the late 60's.... my father worked in the Dockyard and being the musicians that they were, they met up with a naval officer called John Fielder , who was seconded from the RN to the SAN..... anyhow, John and his wife also played a vast array of musical instruments.... so they became instant friends.... very good friends at that....

They had a daughter Gillian and a son Paul....... When Paul Alexander and I were born, they became our God Parents.... and in later years when I attended boarding school at CBC in Cape Town, I would travel by train from Cape Town to Glencairn every weekend..... to spend the weekend with my godparents.... anyhow Gill got a job at Readers Digest, up the road from my hostel and so on some weekends, Cool Gill would pick me up in her purple beach buggy and we would drive home to Glencairn via the long way, Hout Bay and Chapmans peak..... I remember those evening drives as if it was last weekend...... Gill would come and fetch me from Hostel in the middle of the week to take me to the Goodwood show..... She was just the coolest back then.... I always felt "stoked" when my pretty and cool godsister would come and pick me up at hostel......

As the years passed on..... Her mom and dad sadly passed on.... her brother emigrated overseas....and we drifted apart..... the last communication was in 1987......

So when the phone went tonight, and an Englishwoman's voice enquired if this was the same Mike Alexander who went to CBC..... We reconnected after 22 years.... she found my name and number on the internet somewhere.... Wow! an hour phonecall...

Here is the strange thing, and this is the truth.... for no reason at all, three days ago, I started to think of her, what had happened to her...... she reckons that 4 days ago, she started to think of me and my family...... strange but true..... I asked her if she was on facebook, Yes, she replied but she could not find me.... So i went online and found her...... mmmh! here;s the strange part...... We have a mutual friend...... who happened to be none other than Dam the Man shout.... in fact hse had an argument with Dan two nights ago, Dan did'nt want to vote.....

Sandy, Gill was also involved with the Black Sash back in the day, handcuffing herself to fences at St George Cathederal......

Gill runs her own media company and has something to do with the department of music up at UCT....

Man.... We reconnected as if there had not been a 22 year interval....... She cannot wait to meet Michele and the kids...... and I passed her number onto my dad, who is on the phone to her right now.....

I am sooooo Happy that I found my godsister.......

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

Does your dad not then know of Stephens father Cyril who was also at Simonstown at this time he too was seconded from the RN.

[Michael Alexander]

I'll ask him.....

[Cherry (Alcock)]

Hey Mike - what's Gill's surname - I think I might know her from UCT?

[Michael Alexander]

Gillian Lindner

[SandyB]

Stunning story .. always good to  reconnect ...

[Cherry (Alcock)]

Good grief - I know her!  How small is this world?  Gilian and I connected when I ran Old Mutual's jazz programme - tell her I say hi - we both work for UCT!

[Michael Alexander]

  Small World indeed.... First Dan Shout , now you......anyone else out there know my long lost godsister?

[Robert Bruce]

Mike, I have just found this and am gobsmacked that Simonstown featured in the lives of Ornjemunders.

Funny that my best mate in CT was the son of Vice-Admiral Kleinschmidt of the SA Navy.

Most Sundays, the three of us could be found headed out of Simonstown across the False Bay toward Hermanus. V-M Kleinschmidt owned one of only two twin-masted steel hulled boats in SA (I seem to recall). Approx 45ft in length and a fast ride in a strong False Bay wind. Loved it.

No matter how little sleep we had Saturday night and how much we had imbibed, we had to 'report' for duty by no later 07:30am Sunday mornings! Yes, there was often two dronk deckhands on board...! Foul wether was my worst nightmare when in a state of Saturday night overindulgence.

Small world. Will scan a couple of photos and post here tomorrow if I can get them scanned.

[Michael Alexander]

Robert, what years are we talking about here?

[Robert Bruce]

Mike, this the late '70,s thru to mid 80's