Newcastle - Heathrow - Johannesburg - Durban

And so it was!  Saturday the 15th of January arrived and my flight to Durban was booked.  My boys were sad, but Steve and I had made allowances for that, and they left to take Sam for his swimming lesson at the same time as I my departure, which kind of glossed over my leaving.  I was on the metro on the way to the airport, when I realised, with horror, that I had left my blood glucose monitor at home!  Total nightmare.  I had to call Steve and ask him to bring it to me at the airport because I had no time to turn around, go back, and then get to the airport on time, and I couldn't go without it.  So my littles were subject to the terrible airport separation that we had tried to avoid.  Tom had tears pouring down his little face, crying "take me with you mummy, don't leave me behind".  Sam wouldn't even look at me, just kept his eyes fixed on the window while tears slipped soundlessly down his cheeks.


But life goes on, and it is not always all about your children.  This was something I had to do for my mom and for me, so I kissed them, told them I loved them and walked away.  The flights were uneventful, which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned!  Watched some films, read some of my book (Shantaram - excellent read, beautifully written, highly recommended) tried to sleep and ate all the meals offered to me.  I don't know why I always feel compelled to eat and drink everything given on flights, even when it is, frankly, gross!  I've paid for it, I'm going to have it!!


Mom and Aunty Jill picked me up from the airport and we went straight to Rovers so that I could see the memorial bench for my dad.  It was nice and I think it would have pleased him.  I am very glad that I got the opportunity to see it in person.

The view from the bench

We then whizzed off back to my Mom's, as she was hosting a small party to say goodbye to a number of friends and family.  It all went off well and I think mom held it together admirably, even though it must have felt very strange to her to be gathering people together in order to say farewell.  My friend Shelley was there as well and also spent Monday with me, which was wonderful as she was a great help, great company and also, I have no idea when we two shall meet again :-(


The removals guys arrived Tuesday morning, 9am, bright eyed and bushy tailed, eager to get to work... and that first day it was really manageable.  There were only 3 packers so Mom and I could keep an eye on what was going on at just about every stage, making sure that the right things were being packed for storage, or packed for sending on to Anton, or not packed because it was going with us on the plane!!  It was a rather complicated procedure, but it wasn't until Wednesday and 8 people turned up to pack, that things seemed to rather spiral out of our control.  Which is not to say that they were not doing a good job, it was just that with that many people there was just no way that you could see what everyone was doing all the time.  I think my mom found it a bit more stressful  - the first day had lulled us into a false sense of security!!  I also had to go and sort out a bank account for my mom's gardener's son.  We had been putting money away for Plan (he is the same age as Sam) for his education, but with my Mom leaving the area we had to put the money in an account that David had access to, that he could add to if he had some spare money, but that would also earn them maximum interest.  It was Aunty Jill to the rescue as my mom's car was picked up the day before, and so Aunty Jill drove David and I to the bank - and waited incredibly patiently as the business was done!!

Thursday was D-day.  Departure day!  The packers came and finished up (there was a lot to pack, Mom had decided to take everything as she didn't know what she would need, and when she said everything, she meant EVERYTHING!  My dad's desk got wrapped up to be sent to me - hooray!! I had always told my dad how much I loved his old roll top desk and when my mom decided to move she said that I could have it - food for the soul!!  It makes me so happy to think it will be in my house!  We had to finish up cleaning the house, deal with the last little oddments and then the lady who had bought the house came to collect the keys.  Neighbours and friends came to say their goodbyes and wish mom well.  It was emotional and my heart went out to mom as her front door was closed, locked and the key pocketed by someone else.  No turning back now.