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As I drove to work this morning a “Volkswagen beetle” of all things triggered my memories from a very long time ago.  As this jade green “volksie” as we called it, drove past me with its loud sound of the exhaust system, I remembered my dads old volkswagen.  We hade a similiar colour  and suddenly I longed for those old days.  We were on ourway to have a family vacation and my father stopped at this gas station.  “Fill up”  dad said and he paid an amount of R20 to fill his tank. I remembered the sound of his “volksie”  coming around the corner to pick us up from school, we had wonderful times.  

One of my mother’s friends Aunt Helen used to give us a 20 cent piece for our school reports.  My brother and sister and me were rewarded with a 20 cent that we could spend as we wished.  To think that a 20 cent was a lot of money for us!  We could buy some toffees, packet of chips and a cooldrink, and have change to spend the rest of the month.  I remember the hubbly bubbly cooldrink in a glass bottle that I used to buy in the afternoons after school.  We had friends that stayed on a farm on the way to Wolmaranstad in the old Westen Transvaal and every second month my father would phone his friend to order a sheep to be prepared for him to collect.  The amount he paid was a full R10 for the meat of one sheep.  My father always commented that it is so expensive, I wonder what he would say today about paying over R1 000 for a sheep.

I remembered my mother doing her monthly shopping at the OK Bazaars.  It was always a time of big excitement doing shopping with mom.  She loaded the trolleys with food and vegetables and some sweet things for us as well.  I could remember those days as if it was yesterday, the amount for the shopping amount to a total of R22. 

Today I told these stories to my daugther and sounded like my grandparents talking about the olden days.  It was wonderful days and it took a small thing like a volkswagen beatle to trigger my memory  this morning.   I do appreciate each and every day that we receive as a gift with the wonderful memories of days that is long gone!

Stirling Manor Boutique Guest House

38 Scott Street, Schoemansville, Hartbeespoort, South Africa  | Telephone:  +27 12 253 2532   | Fax: +27 12 253 2060

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