A special tribute

The year was 1995, a time when, despite the winter’s* chill, our nation’s heartbeat was strong, powered by a hopeful rhythm of unity and reconciliation after the Springboks beat the All Blacks in Johannesburg to claim our very first Rugby World Cup trophy and title. This story started in the early hours of the very first day of Spring, 02:00 to be precise, on 1 September 1995.

The feeling of a dull, faint pop awoke a young mother, barely in the 36th week of her second pregnancy. She had gotten used to the nocturnal urgency of a very specific abdominal organ, but it had never progressed to the stage of leakage like it did that morning. She hurried to the bathroom just to learn that she had been wrong about the organ of origin, the leakage was not the result of an overfull bladder, but rather the ruptured membranes of her uterine wall. This set off an inevitable series of events which culminated into the birth of a beautiful and perfectly healthy 2.8kg 52cm baby girl at 06:13.

That beautiful baby girl is my second child and firstborn daughter Annie, birth name Anneen (pronounced ANN-EEN, ANN as in Princess Royal ANNE-without-the-last-E and EEN as in GREEN). Unlike her big brother (and her little brother, for that matter, I had to stick to the pattern), she has no second name, because….well, because she came almost four weeks earlier than her expected date of birth on 26 September 1995 and I did not have enough time to come up with a second name. Annie was not going to wait until almost the end of September to make her grand entry into the world. She wanted to introduce Spring and she did!

My bright, beautiful Annie has been married to her beloved Marno for over 10 years, she is the doting mommy of my adorable granddaughters EmilyBoo & AddiePie, and today, she is 30 years old!

From the very beginning, our precious Lenteblommetjie ensured that our family life was filled with love, confusion, exhilaration, danger, fun, conflict, laughter, doubt, love, fear, sadness and a sense of authentic belonging. To date, it has NEVER been boring or dull. She once picked up her baby brother Jack out of the pram by his neck when he fussed and I wasn’t close enough to help out. She tied the laces on her big brother Daniel’s school shoes throughout his grade one and grade two years. During foundation phase school years, her birthday parties were the talk of the town. She invited all her classmates (of the girls only school she attended) to themed birthday parties of her choice. We had an English high tea with professional catering, makeup, manicures and hairdressing when she turned 7 years old. Her 8th birthday party was a Little Miss Universe pageant, complete with a T-shaped catwalk (built by her dad) and two adorable formally dressed gentlemen (brothers) escorting Little Miss Universe (Annie) and all her princesses onto the catwalk. At age 9, she invented her own art school, Red Hill School, complete with a impressively designed crest, and she invoiced me for art lessons presented to Jack & Jess. She single-handedly taught the tech-smart, highly privileged children in the entire senior primary section of a private school how to ditch their tech and play imaginary games outside.

The picture I chose for this reflection was taken when Annie was 18 months old and I did so because one of the cutest Annie stories happened at this age. Annie got given a knock-off Barbie-lookalike as a gift. Despite it being a reasonable representation of Barbie with long, slim legs, long luscious hair and pretty face, it was packaged in a plastic bag with a cardboard seal. Unlike real Barbie who comes packaged in a box. Annie hesitantly took hold of the doll, inspected it and then confidently declared with cheeky sass, Dis NIE ‘n Barbie nie, Barbies kom in bokse nie in plastieksakke nie! Julle het gesê ek kry ‘n Barbie, ek wil ‘n Barbie hê!

On a more serious note, I also witnessed a deathly ill Annie circling the drain of life on two occasions. First occurrence happened when she contracted a viral encephalitis just before her third birthday and the second occurrence happened when she developed sudden onset preeclampsia and her second daughter had to be delivered via emergency C-section. I saw the life drain out of her, but I also saw new life restored within her.

I don’t believe that it is a coincidence that this year’s Free State Spring arrived observably earlier than I have ever experienced in all of the 25 years of living here. To me, it so vividly serves as a special reminder of the beauty, warmth, life, brightness and colour Annie brought (and continue to bring) into our lives and the lives of others. At first I thought that Annie was like Spring, but now I know that Spring is like Annie. Annie incorporates all the qualities of Spring, but Spring only incorporates some of Annie’s qualities. New, green leaves and shoots. Cool breezes and refreshing showers. Fierce lightning storms and loud thunder. Beautiful blooming buds and persistent pollen. Bright flowers and warm sunshine.

It has been my honour and privilege to watch Annie grow up. From an adorable, serious baby into a cute, cheeky toddler into a chirpy, precocious preschooler into a bright, bubbly tween into a creative, conscientious teen and young lady. It has also been my honour and privilege to watch Annie mature into a powerful woman. Fuelled by her unwavering faith in our Lord, she so remarkably utilises and balances her own unique giftedness. Her tenderness and her tenacity. Her intelligence and her integrity. Her wits and her wisdom. Her boldness and her beauty. Her influence and her intuition. Her challenges and her cheer.

Just like the early arrival of Spring 2025 is bringing beautiful, bright and vibrant new life, Annie did the same when she arrived early in September 1995, but unlike fleeting Spring 2025, our Annie Spring came in 1995 and stayed forever!

Dearest Annie, my beloved Princess, happy 30th birthday today! May our Lord bless you and keep you and may His light always shine on your path of life! I meant every word of this reflection which might come across as downright garden variety from a prejudiced mother to her perfect daughter, but I’m not prejudiced and you’re not perfect and none of us are anywhere close to checking the boxes of a garden variety specimen in the garden of life. We are the kind of late blooming flower buds which don’t follow the regular rules. We bloom best during times of adversity. Like Mulan and Moana, we rise above the crazy chaos of normalcy during difficult times. People don’t notice us during the mundane rat race, but they are attracted to us when the switch of crazy unpredictability is flicked, because we are warriors and pioneers. We can see when others are blind. I love being on this journey with you and I look forward to witnessing how you go deeper and further than I ever did!

*Unlike Spring, Summer and Autumn, I do NOT consider winter to be a season worthy of capitalisation.