Old but not Cold

A sense of humour rounds out life. It keeps marriages supple, softens our own edge of seriousness and lets us see the lighter side of life. One of the nicest comments I've heard M make about his wife is when he reassured a colleague, who thought he might have offended me, "No, Brenda's got a great sense of humour. She actually found it very funny." I thoroughly appreciate and enjoy good humour from others. An unexpected chuckle is a satisfying taste of life.

I enjoyed such a moment on the stoep of M's parents' place in Johannesburg.

His father is a laid-back personality, accepting of life and its curve balls, and able to enjoy where he is at. This week he turned 80 and was heralded with many, "Machtig, jy's tachtig!" (Amazing you're eighty!) accolades by his family. Basking in the sun rays of attention, he responded to M's enquiry about how he felt being 80 with a settled, "Oud maar niet koud" (Old but not cold). I loved those words the moment they rolled off his tongue that sunny African afternoon on the stoep. I chuckled and, straight away, scooped them up and pocketed them for myself: an unexpected gift from my father-in-law.

That's how I want to live life. Settled with where I am at, not pining for missed opportunities or overwhelmed about concern for the future - and most especially, seeing the humour in life.

Thank you, Pappie, for your gift to me on your eightieth birthday!