I will have to spend time on this letter because I feel the need to express how life was in those days...

I would like to start off with my first memory of a 15 year old young man whom I met as a result of my having fallen in love

with his brother. You see, Peter was generous enough to include me in their very close “twosome” bond. The two guys opened

a new life for me. Due to to the fact that my father was crippled during the war, I never had the opportunity to discover the

excitement and beauty of “the outdoors”. I couldn’t wait each week for the weekend and new adventures (when allowed out

….my mother was very protective).

The boys step dad was a medical doctor on the mine and they lived in a lovely house on a large property. The pets were

slightly unusual e.g an owl called ‘Olly ‘was my favorite and a Harrier. Bruce will have to fill in the name - I tried, can't

remember!

Their mother was unusual as well! At the time I was hugely innocent and found her quite intimidating. She was capable of

anything from mountain climbing (without puffing and panting), helping the boys to AWOL from school to do something exciting,

to being a gentle protective mother to her five children....

Amusing thoughts come to mind such as the way they handled their main source of transport, 1958-60 bicycles. One would

have thought that they were 4x4’s !! Perhaps my joy of theatre and creative movement allowed me to notice how easily they

performed their circus acts, with superb balance and coordination. Despite the odd crash they never broke any bones, nor did

they admit to any injuries.

On each of my visits there was a new creation or a lesson to learn. Could you imagine sailing on the mine’s sludge dam in a

zinc bath? Somehow they managed to keep us afloat. They continued to take me under their wing and proceeded to teach me

many things. The next lesson was to snorkel and ‘deep sea dive’ in the swimming pool, thereafter target shooting, hiking,

climbing, plus trips to the Magaliesberg Mtns (to hunt crop raiding baboons.) I will leave Bruce to elaborate as to what they got

up to…in the mountains.

What a wonderful year we had together. The school days were at an end. I went to nursing college; Bruce went to spend a

year in England & Meryl moved back to her beloved Cape. The next time we were to spend together was after Bruce and I

were married. Peter was stationed in Pretoria for his military stint in the air force. Bruce and I were living in Johannesburg in the

tiniest bachelor apartment you could imagine. Peter would come to us on his weekends off. The only place for him to sleep was

on the floor in the kitchenette. The space was so small and he, so tall & muscular, could not turn over.

He had the gift of repartee and always gave as “good as he got”!

Bruce and I finally moved to the Cape and once again the friendship was in full swing. The lessons learnt were put into use.

Thanks to the brothers, my life continued to blossom and grow in this amazingly beautiful Cape of Good Hope.