“When you look up, say thank you. You may not know what you receive. Every day you are covered, in your car and anything can happen on the way, but God makes your path clear.”
These are words from Freda Naidoo, a great-grandmother from Fairways that I recently interviewed for a story upon reaching 100 years of age.
A week later, I find her words of advice for those wishing to live a healthy and prosperous life, still echo and intrigue my mind whether I’m driving to the office or daydreaming on the balcony of my apartment.
During the interview, I found myself dumbstruck at the sheer optimism and infectious sense of humour Naidoo displayed as she shared her story.
As I approached her home, I saw her exotically decorated porch with shrubs whilst a group of cats lay on her stoep in the afternoon sun.
Upon introducing myself, she greeted me with the utmost respect and enthusiasm one would not expect from someone who just turned 100. She sat in her couch whilst her walker stood at her knees.
Once I switched on my voice recorder and the interview unfolded, I felt transported to a simpler time where the flow of life was allowed to move at a more moderate, yet oppressive pace, considering it was the height of apartheid.
I saw her eyes gleamed as she recalled her fond childhood memories of a forgotten version of Piketberg, where she was born.
She enthused with childlike delight as she told me about her mother’s love for baking cakes.
At the age of 23 she got married, as most of our grandparents and parents did at that time, and started her life as a furrier when she moved to Diep River.
However, not long after their move, tragedy struck when she, her husband and 12-year-old daughter, were forcibly removed and ordered to move to Fairways due to the Group Areas Act.
Her voice was stirring and filled her lounge with a haunting wisdom. She was the youngest of four siblings, all of whom have passed, and as I listened to her, I wondered what the weight of her life felt like.
To comprehend the thought of witnessing so much change, tragedy, a World War and countless advancements in technology.
From the radio, to the television, the fax machines, computers, cellphones, the Internet and now Artificial Intelligence (AI).
And yet as I relived the misty moments of her life with her, I could not detect an ounce of worry, regret, spite or bitterness of either the past or present age in her voice.
Of course, she felt hurt being disrespected and overlooked as an upcoming and young female evangelist by some of her peers in the 70’s, but she took this criticism as fuel to feed her dedication, to live a life honouring Jesus Christ and remaining perseverant.
She is a mother to five children; her eldest daughter sadly died when she was forty.
She experienced no chronic illnesses nor any addiction to alcohol or smoking.
Her sharp and infectious sense of humour was evident as she told me why she never smoked. “I’ll tell you exactly why I never smoked! I bought a pack of cigarettes and told myself, ‘today I’ll smoke them!’ and that night the strangest thing happened,” she told this story with Oscar-worthy gestures and passion.
“As soon as I put the cigarette to my lips, it flew out of my mouth and landed on the floor and from that day on, I said I’ll never smoke again,” she laughed as she clapped her hands and closed her eyes gleefully.
In her nineties she was struck by a Quantum taxi while trying to cross the road, flung over the vehicle, cracked her skull twice and suffered a broken hip.
She recovered in hospital for ten months only to endure a ruptured vein.
And yet she’s still standing, still laughing and baking trifles for Christmas and taking Ubers for a weekly shopping.
When the interview ended, I felt a tremendous sense of gratitude to be alive.
Her grit, determination and never-say-die attitude will always remain with me wherever I go.
Before I reached my car, she held my hand and looked me in the eye and said she sees a prosperous future for me.
The inspiration, the lessons we need to help us mature and appreciate the present, can come from the elders.
They are the ones who have suffered and endured like great towering trees with deep roots anchoring themselves through the seasons of rain, heat and uncertainty life throws us as we tackle 2026 and the years beyond.
