Hierdie somer is genadeloos warm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Veral vir Lovey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haar Labrador-bruin o\u00eb kyk moeg van waar sy in die koelte l\u00ea en wag vir die huis-toe-kom motor. Wanneer ons tuis is, l\u00ea sy onder die kombuistafel. Al is dit warmer daar as buite. Haar plek. Haar mense. Haar lewe. Hier het sy twee kinders se huiswerkmiddae beluister en beleef. Genoeg gehoor om \u2019n graad te voltooi. Ingeluister op middagete-geselsies. Soms \u2019n skelm stukkie oorskietkos gekry van iemand wat gedink het dat niemand kyk nie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deesdae hoor sy nie meer mooi nie. Partykeer skrik sy regop as iemand haar kop onverwags streel. Haar laaste waghondselfvertroue gestroop. Haar trotse higi\u00ebne word afgetakel deur die meedo\u00ebnlose metronoom van tydsverloop. Dan en wan bly \u2019n klam kol op die vloer wanneer sy opstaan. As sy bewus raak stap sy met hangheupe deurwaarts. Waaistert haar dankie terwyl sy stram uitstap. Die hondepille word harder om te eet. Sagter blikkieskos help aanvanklik; maar selfs dit raak moeilik. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ten spyte van haar fisieke agteruitgang kom groet sy elke keer as ons by die hek stop. Waaistert. Heet almal welkom terug op haar werf. Sy bring nie meer stokkies, takkies en klippe vir geskenke nie. Sy stap saam vanaf die motorhuis, hardloop nie meer vooruit nie. Stop soms halfpad om te rus of \u2019n leksel water te sluk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ons vermy die onafwendbare gesprek. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drie maande gelede moes ons ma, ouma en skoonma ouetehuis toe. Met Bybel, rolstoel, bril, boeke en valstande is sy na die versorgingseenheid. Agter haar \u2019n kamer vol herinneringe, \u2019n huis vol stories. Die ouetehuis \u2019n hand vol sand vir haar uurglas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Op \u2019n doodgewone Donderdagoggend besef ons Lovey se uurglas is leeg. My seun moet Smithfield toe vir \u2019n motorlisensietoets. Hy groet Lovey eerste. Ons stel uit. My vrou gaan eers werk toe. Kom dan terug. My dogter gaan ook saam. Lovey stap gedwe\u00eb saam na die motor. \u2019n Verrassing! Sy kan saamry. Ek help haar met die sukkelende agterbene. Sy maak plek vir my dogter op die sitplek. Sy kyk nie by die venster uit soos \u2019n jong hondjie nie. Sien dus nie hoe die hek wat sy vir soveel jare so mooi opgepas het \u2019n laaste keer vir haar oop- en toeskuif nie. Sy weet nie waarheen ons op pad is nie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sy hoef nie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sy kon ons nog altyd vertrou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ons stop. Klim uit. Ek, my vrou, my dogter. Lovey stap saam. Geen leiband nodig nie. Sy kyk rond. Haar laaste waghond-plig, al weet sy dit nie. Alles lyk veilig. Daar is mensgesprekke. Ek sit haar op \u2019n skaal. \u2019n Man met \u2019n wit jas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ek tel haar op die tafel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Na al die jare saam weet sy dat sy ons met haar lewe kan vertrou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Die man met die wit jas skeer haar beenhare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Die eerste prik van die naald maak haar seer. Sy ruk. Maar haar mense is hier. Dit kan nie so erg wees nie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tweede prik. Die spuitnaald raak leeg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lovey se o\u00eb ook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hierdie somer is genadeloos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hierdie somer is genadeloos warm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_eb_attr":"","_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"a26ca55c-4858-454f-b3b8-d8bac7ff7bef","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[],"_yoast_post_redirect_info":[],"_yoast_wpseo_video_meta":[],"activation_date":"","archive_insertion_is_repeating":"","archive_insertion_posts_count":"","article_feature_media":"","article_feature_type":"","article_main_image_caption":"","article_media_icon":"","article_template":"","author_byline":"Igno van Niekerk","background_color":"","block_editor":"","byline":"","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"","hide_border":"","icon":"","is_wp_suggestion":"","issuu_download_url":"","issuu_embed_url":"","language_version_url":"","large_border":"","name":"","nm_contact_name":"","nm_contact_number":"","nm_date_lost":"","no_overlay_background":"","node-url":"","obituary_born_date":"","obituary_died_date":"","obituary_memoriam_text":"","origin":"","overlay_color":"","overlay_opacity":"","overlay_size":"","placement":"","plural_label":"","post_author":"","post_id":"","post_language":"en","secret-key":"","sponsored_utm_campaign":"","sponsored_utm_content":"","sponsored_utm_medium":"","sponsored_utm_source":"","sponsored_utm_term":"","start_date":"","utm_suppression":"","video_embed_url":"","wp_pattern_sync_status":"","data_version":[],"enclosure":[],"pongrass_image":[],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-49695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n