we are what they were
poor georgies almanack
This is a brief summary of something I sent to my family this morning …
News and social media are splashing millions of images showing The University of Cape Town’s treasured library being wildly consumed by massive flames.
In that library, while visiting cousins Linda and Bill, I learned about the early lives of my South African family. Not just what dribbled down through the mental mesh of family myths and morality stories, but their real world.
I am indebted to the wonderful research librarian who came to my table with arms full of books. She whispered something so obvious … something that I’m sure would have been remembered from journalism school … if only it had been uttered.
“Follow the Footnotes.”
And there they were.
And here we were.
Because we are made up of who and what they were.
Glimpses of their past, as well as our past in Europe and South Africa, are in the chapters on the Helfets and Uncle Jake in “Why Did Our Family Do That? … a pdf of essays. Table-of-Contents is on pages 3 and 4.
To good health!
Cousin George
