Eunice Thenjiwe Nozulu. (Though I think, in all likelihood, it's probably Thenjiwe Eunice Nozulu - the issue of carrying both a Xhosa name as well as an English name is a whole nother matter: it could be psychoanalysed and deconstructed and stripped 'moer-toe', but at the end of the day it is about two things: fitting in / belonging outside of their Xhosa culture and the general white laziness to pronounce the clicks and curls of Xhosa names.) I can hardly remember back to being three years old and Eunie's first day at work - but there are beautiful, richly coloured memories of Eunie arriving at our pre-primary school to take Melissa and I home, a short walk in the swelteringly perfect summer afternoon, babbling and giggling as if we were all three years old - Eunie telling us she'd made us strawberry jelly for after our lunch! I mean - what more could two little girls want? It was only as we got a little older that the roles reversed a little and we were the ones who made her hot, cheesy toasted sarmies for lunch - and, it would be hopeless to try count the cups of dark, scaldingly hot tea saturated with at least FOUR heaped spoons of sugar! It was round about this time too that Eunie began to scold us, albeit playfully, for our messy bedrooms or leaving crumbs on the kitchen counter.
She gave birth to identical twin girls - Ayanda and Siyanda - when I was about 5 or 6. I decided then and there that black babies were definitely the most gorgeous and adorable in the world! And oh, how deliciously they smelled: like hot, crumbling
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5 comments:
Although I am dying to hear the stories as they remind me of so many of my own with Mina the lovely lady who worked for my mom while I was growing up....I think with your writing I could wait for the book and would LOVE curling up on the couch with hot chocolate and reading every word!
xxx
Oh Andrea - you really have made my day! You'll have to be the first to get a signed copy ;) lol
Seems like an impossible dream with so many good writers out there bombarding the world so competitively with their opinions and stories... But what's that silly saying? 'Slowly, slowly, catchee money'? lol
PLEASE continue! My "Eunie" was called Melda - not sure what her birth-name must have been.
This story really reminded me of our own Minnie and her daughter Michelle - with the exception that both Minnie and Michelle were incredibly hard work, and quit testing at times (I even remember this from the early years!).....but strangely enough, nothing conjures up childhood memories like the smell of fish-fingers frying in the pan......with Minnie standing in front of the stove (bitching about work!!). Thanks for the story Lees, and waiting for the novel...you got me hooked! xxxxxbobs
write the book!
the sooner it hits the shelves, the sooner i can buy and read it!
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