22.3.2023

 

Our dear friend Benie has passed away.  She has fought so hard to stay alive for ages, but there was no happy ending. I am over awed by her courage. She kept working for her university students and her community till the end, and never complained about the disease or the treatments.  Several times a day I hear something and catch myself thinking” I must discuss this with Benie”.  We must have known her ever since we came to the area over 40 years ago.  We met when we joined the local after Xmas trail ride, and she became an important part of our large trail riding tribe.  When she left her husband, she lived with us in the donga until she brought herself a mud brick home up the mountain, but she would come down and join us for curry super on Friday nights where we would discuss everything.  We will miss her so much.

 

Whilst we were phoning the other members of the trail-ride tribe we discovered that another friend had also died that week.   Aunty was a small lady with a wicked sense of humour and a surprising amount of energy.  Perhaps our memories will be ghosts that find our ghostly horses and trek over the mountains for the rest of our lives.