Tag Archives: Wendon Academy

Belle of the Ball

Again. She’s done this before.

Jess was invited to accompany Lelam to his matric dance at her old alma mater Wendon Academy. Yes, she’d go; No, she wouldn’t; Yes. No. I won’t enjoy it Dad. You’ll love it my girl. Cold feet. But we got going:

We bought a dress.

We used her silver shoes from her own matric dance in 2016, then got (shh! cheap) jewellery and a clutch bag to match them.

Charmaine up the road did her hair.

Jess_hair[1]
– Jess all serious –

Her childhood friend Annabelle did her make-up.

– while Belinda took the pictures –
Jess & Annabelle
– Jessica & Annabelle go WAY back –

Lelam’s Dad phoned and organised things. He would fetch Jess and take them to the dance. He sounded like a lovely person, but a dark secret cast doubt on that assessment: He is a Michaelhouse Old Boy! I’d be keeping a close eye on him.

Proud Dad Mphathisi and Lelam arrived with a beautiful bunch of roses and a stunning corsage:

They had a lovely evening. We fetched them afterwards, so we got to see the star-studded hall.

Wenson Dance Jess Lelam 2018 (15)

They had danced all night; We had eaten, drank and solved the world’s problems all night. Mphathisi is a lovely guy even if he did go to a dodgy school – the one Tom whipped at rugby.

Next morning a beautiful Pearl Charaxes found the single malt dregs:

. . . and a skein of birds flew overhead:

20180819_101617

What a lovely day. The world is a good place to be.

~~oo0oo~~

Aftermath – I wrote to Mphathisi:

I enjoyed this little snippet from last night:

Lelam told me at the hall when we fetched them that ‘he had taught Jess to dance’. I thought that was brilliant and interesting, as I have paid for YEARS of dance classes for Jess!

So this morning I probed gently:

How was the dancing?

Fun, says the monosyllabic one.

Did everyone dance?

Yes.

Was the music good?

Yes.

Oh, and the DJ’s assistant was “hot” – she’s opening up here!

Did you do any different dances?

What do you mean?

I mean did you learn a new dance or something?

Oh, yes, Lelam showed us a new dance and we did it.

BINGO!

Mphathisi replied:

HAHAHAHA – oh the trials and tribulations of parenthood. 😊 – And HE has not shut up about how he taught Jessica to dance. Big moment for him, that – LOL!!!

~~oo0oo~~

feedback from friends and big supporters –

Terry: This made me cry twice. She looks just as Trish would have wanted Her too. What hugely handsome beaus too! Beautifully written Pete. 

Rita: She looked amazing – both times. Jess has really grown into a beautiful girl. Aitch would be proud. And don’t run yourself down. You do a good job.

~~oo0oo~~

Postscript: Devastated to hear Mphathisi passed away a couple years later. We couldn’t find out any detail. Damn!!

81 years of Matric

1938 – Dad – Maritzburg College, Pietermaritzburg.

Pieter Swanepoel 1938 matric
– Maritzburg College’s 150th -enary –

1972 – Me – Harrismith se Hoerskool, Vrystaat.

Science class - Elsie Campher watches me searching - Jean Roux on right
– looks like Elsie is chirping me as I pretend I might have done some homework –

1975 – Aitch at Muizenberg High – head girl!

– Mom Aitch was head girl as a Humphrey –

2016 – My Jessie – Wendon Academy, Westville, KwaZuluNatal.

20160307_072509
– eish! school! –

2019 – My Tommy – home schooling – did the GED course

– tutor Langelihle Dube and TomTom hard at work –

We went from steam power to cellphone power! Well actually, I spose the internal combustion engine was up and running when the ole man left matric . . .

~~~oo0oo~~~

Jessie’s Show and Tell – and Aitch’s Legacy

Jessie’s grade 10 class had Dr Chris Barnard and Heart Transplants as a subject last week.

When she told me I asked, ‘Did you tell them your Mama worked with him?’ Actually, no she hadn’t. She vaguely knew Mom had done it, but wasn’t confident enough to step forward. My shy Jess.

So out with Aitch’s old albums of her working next to the old sleazy charmer, still quite young back before 1983 (when he retired). She says he tried his luck to get her to go out with him one night, as he apparently did with all the nubiles on the team.

And there in the pics was Aitch in theatre greens and mask: The cardio-vascular perfusionist operating the heart-lung machine – ‘the oxygenator’ – that kept the patient alive once the blood circulation had been diverted away from their own heart and lungs. And there was the famous cad watching. And there was a heart in a jar.

Aitch & Barnard at the heart-lung machine
– The Prof and The Mom –

Off to school went the album the next day and Jess was the focus of much attention and oohing and aahing. Which she loved.

~~~oo0oo~~~