The Test of Time

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know. My father died while I was small so I had no one to ask. I was raised by my mother in our farm house next to Palm Bridge.” “Is your mother still alive?” “Yes, my mother is still alive, though she is old and sick most of the time. I don’t know what I would do without her. I have always looked up to her and I have depended on her advice in all decisions I have taken in my life. My mother is my rock.” “I am happy for you. I never knew my parents. They died when I was small and I cannot remember them. All I have from them are their photos, and this’ she pointed at the neckpiece she war. It was silver with a heart shaped pendant. The pendant was made of a picture frame with a small picture of her parents on their wedding day. “I was raised by my Aunt Sylvia, who told me everything I know about my parents. She told me my mother’s name was Shirna and her maiden name was Provieka. My father was called Raphael Ravierka, and they met in Mauritius at the Grand Mauritian Hotel. They were both on holiday and were the only English speaking people there. Theirs was love at first sight and as soon as they met, they knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. My father proposed to my mother the following day, and they were actually married three days after. By the time they came back to South Africa, my mother was pregnant with me. I was born the following year, 3 months before their anniversary. They left me with Aunt Sylvia to go for their honeymoon back in Mauritius, at the same hotel. Unfortunately, their plane crashed on their way back, and I was orphaned.” Tears where rolling down her cheeks as she related the story about parents she never knew. “How I wish I could have met them, known them. How I wish I could have experienced a mother’s love. Don’t get me wrong, Aunt Sylvia is wonderful, and she raised me like her own child. She does not have children of her own, and I became the child she never had. I grew up loved and protected, but I just cannot help feeling that a mother’s love would have been somewhat different and more special; that the connection between a mother and daughter can never be compared with any other.” “Dalsiah I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I wish you knew your mother too. Jeremy was serious as he said it; Dalsiah could not help it but just burst out laughing. The expression on his face was hilarious. It was as if her parents had just died and he was bringing condolences to the house. “Thank you, but you do not need to apologies for my parent’s death”, said Dalsiah, laughing once again. “This happened a long time ago, and though I wish I could meet them, I am rarely sad about it. I never knew them so I don’t really know what I am missing. What I wish for is a dream, not from experience, but from wishful thinking. I missed my parents more when I was young, especially when I saw other children playing with their parents. I think the situation was exacerbated by the absence of a husband and father in Aunt Sylvia’s life. Had Uncle Mike not died…, bless his soul, he loved me just as much as she did” Dalsiah wiped a tear with the back of her hand. It was obvious she loved Uncle Mike very much and could still feel the pain of loss. “I am sure I wouldn’t have missed my parent half as much. I wouldn’t have envied other children as much. With the death Uncle Mike, it felt like I was losing a father all over again. He was a wonderful father” Smiling she looked at him, “you must never feel the need to apologies for my dead parents. After all you did not know them, nor did you kill them, or did you?” At that they both burst out laughing. “I would have loved to meet her, my future mother in law. I am sure we would have got along fine. I am almost sure I would have fallen in love with her at first sight too, this he said teasingly smiling down at her. She didn’t know it yet but she would soon learn to know that he could look at her as if he touched her with his eyes, in a very comforting way that made her feel better, no matter how badly she was hurting, and she would never stop to be amazed by that. I would like to take you to meet my mother some time. I know she is dying to meet you, since I have already told her about you. That will actually give you a chance to see where I live.” “Maybe one day, as for now, let’s continue to take it one day at a time.” Jeremy turned around and looked at the contents of the room. He did not want her to see the disappointment in his eyes. He was sure they had moved from being total strangers to becoming intimate strangers… he smiled as he thought ‘intimate strangers’. That is what Dalsiah would have said. He did not feel like she was a stranger to him. Maybe he might still be a stranger to her, but to him she was the woman he would like to spend the rest of his life with. He admired her father for marrying her mother three days after they met in a foreign country, that took determination, and he did not lack in that area. He was determined to make Dalsiah his wife. He couldn’t imagine his life without her. He could already see it, a wedding in Mauritius in the same hotel where her parent got married. That would be a beautiful gift to her. A gift he would love to give her. ‘Dalsiah Javronse’