Everyone has that one big memory from Omund, you know that big one , that you will always remember till your dying day, it might have been the day you left forever,perhaps a murder, winning an award, somebody's death....an event, a diamond case, a person..... what's yours...? that big big one.....
I think mine, must have been on two occasions, one was when I was an Appie and got fired and the other when my mom passed on...... those were the two big ones......care to share yours?
yesno
Mine would be the first day we arrived in Oranjemund. We were standing in the street in front of our 'new house' (34-3rd). Everything seemed so empty and dead! My mom looked at my dad and said that she wouldn't stay there for more than a week. She must have fallen under the spell rather quickly coz we spent 10 amazing years there.
Quote from: Patricia Lotte on March 18, 2008, 06:57:35 AM
Mine would be the first day we arrived in Oranjemund. We were standing in the street in front of our 'new house' (34-3rd). Everything seemed so empty and dead! My mom looked at my dad and said that she wouldn't stay there for more than a week. She must have fallen under the spell rather quickly coz we spent 10 amazing years there.
Don't forget who your neighbours were... :buffo1: :sorriso2:
Maybe thats why she only wanted to stay a week, when she saw u kids hanging over the fence... laughpoint
:buffo9:
That's what I meant...
:culo1:
Georg Jr - Do I need to remind you that your brother Michael broke my arm one day on our way back from the movies? How do you expect me to ever forget who our neighbours were thumper???
See, typical German aggression, picking on the french again.... swink
Well, they were 3 boys ... we were 2 girls ... but hey, they didn't get us any way e154
No hosepipes over the fence, spraying each other? Smoke bombs using old braai ash?
No, but I do remember us having a darts day once. We each had 2 or 3 darts and would chase each other through the 2 houses and gardens throwing darts at each other. Over the fence, through the windows, on the roof ... pretty painfull when you got hit in the arse
My biggest memory is not of a single moment. It is all the happenings and events all woven into one when my dad, Big Dirk had to be transported to Cape Town for his second heart operation after he had a blood clot that shot into his heart, tore out the one artificial valve and he collapsed in the shopping centre.
The way the medical staff reacted, the Company not asking any questions - just put him on the plane and flew him down to CT. All the people in town who helped. The compassion and outreach of every person. I came home for off weekends when my dad and mom were still down in CT. Everybody who saw me in the shopping centre were asking after my dad, but they also asked after us kids: if we were ok, did we have everything we needed, did I have enough pocket money. There was a guy in the shopping centre then (I think it was Gavin Bicks?? not sure about his surname) who authorized me to use my moms computer card to buy the stuff I needed for boarding school. Everyone offered their home for us to stay at, so we would'nt be home alone as kids. People whom I did'nt even knew offered help and uttered their concern for us. I can't remember who the GM was then, but what I remember is that he called me at home to ask about my dad, my mom - wanted to know if my mom was ok down in CT, if she had a place to stay, if she was ok with money etc etc.
The memory of all of this will stay with me for all my life. The kindness, compassion and genuine concern of all the people in OM way back then. Even the way the company acted - till this day the company has never billed my dad for the flight expenses or even tried to regain it from the Police Medical Aid fund.
So, I think this is a great opportunity for me to thank each and every person for this memory you created. Believe me, if Big Dirk was still alive today, he would have done the same. So many times have I heard him talk about this event, with so much pride and thankfullness in his heart.
THANK YOU ALL FOR CREATING THIS BIG MEMORY OF MY LIFE - I HAD THE PRIVALIGE TO HAVE HAD MY DAD ALIVE TILL I WAS 34! The Lord knew why He made us move to that little oasis out in the desert - He knew there were far better gems than diamonds there: - the people outweighed the value of the stones by far!
One big family back then.... :emot112_2: e154
First memory of O-Mund was getting of the plane and our legs getting stung by the sand and wind. Something that we got used to over the years.
Quote from: Patricia Lotte on March 18, 2008, 09:46:37 AM
No, but I do remember us having a darts day once. We each had 2 or 3 darts and would chase each other through the 2 houses and gardens throwing darts at each other. Over the fence, through the windows, on the roof ... pretty painfull when you got hit in the arse
i think these things all happened when I was at boarding school.... swink
R U Making up these songs as you go along or what?
The one night when a drunken misadventure of myself and Viv at checkpoint charlie nearly cost us our jobs .. so close .. so close .. will tell it sometime ...
???
Could it be you just jumped the topic Michael??
:36_2_35:
Mmmmh! Maybe I'm still suffering withdrawel symtoms from the weekends Jagermeister.... quickdop
:36_2_35: quickdop
Out of my many memories; one that is near the top is being stolen from my bed in the wee hours and being transported to the swimming pool - only to find the same had happened to the Alexander boys..........fun times
Yes, for some strange reason , I also remember that.... I think our folks took us along to share the blame if we got caught...
idontknow was i there Rho I don't remember
You were there - dad and uncle Jock used to climb the wall and open the open the door for us........
I remember those times , going for those late nite swims with our parents , the whole Alexander and Mc Manus families .
One of my favourite memories was on a Sunday after Sunday School, going to find our Dad at bowls, hiding in the back of the Landrover so when he went for a drink at the club afterwards we would "pop" out the back mysteriously and he would take us in for a cola tonic! I also remember walking at night with Mum to the library (is that right? would the library have been open at night time??) Anyway it was usually a night we had liver for dinner so I would store up all the meat in my mouth til we got out on the road then spit it out without Mum seeing then after the library we would go to the Cafe and Mum would always buy us some sweets. I remember Richard always got acid drops and I ALWAYS got pink stars. Do they still make stars? I loved them! Oh and one more memory too.... I was always on the look out for tortoises and over the years collected many! Some people painted their shells and if you lost them you could tell which were yours. Mine laid an egg just before we left Oranjemund and to this day I still dream about the baby tortoise I never saw hatch. I think it affected me psychologically!!
One of my big memories is the great holidays we had visiting Durban, Cape Town, Paarl, Upington and Franschoek (sp). I vividly remember the whole family exiting the town to go to the garage where the private vehicles were stored so we could clean our car (Taunus) ready for the long drive out of Oranjemund. My mum was a stickler for trying to remove every grain of sand that had gathered in the car. I also remember the searches as you left Oranjemund ensuring you weren't smuggling any diamonds out. Back then it all seemed such a normal way of life but when I think about it now and relay it to my friends it sounds so out of this world. Another huge memory for me were the 'White only' entrances. Again, this was so normal when I was growing up in Oranjemund and visiting South Africa. I never once questioned why the ovambos had to go to their own toilets in the 1st Avenue trees.
Great memory Teel, we to also knew that when our folks were in the pub (sportsmans) and we hung around and irritated them, they would eventually buy us a bottle of cooldrink and a wee packet of biltong..... As for the tortoises, I do not know any kid who never owned one in Omund... we had one a few years back for our girls, they chose the name Fluffy for some strange reason... he could move though and whenever you headed to the front gate , he would sprint to the gate to get there before you.... one day he got out and headed off into the desert, never to be seen from again... My German Sheprerds enjoyed playing with him also...... :wow1:
The main "white only entrance "I remember was at the post office,the there was the hatch at the back of the shopping centre (Warehouse) where the Ovambo's were served.
Cola Tonic was also big then,like a play,play big peoples drink