Missing Mr Mandela
I’ve been walking past this portrait in the window of the framing shop on Kloof St for weeks on end, but on Friday morning, I stopped to look properly. Since hearing the news, we’ve gone about our daily lives, doing normal things like grocery shopping and seeing friends, but the special editions of the newspapers and the constant commemorative radio programming have kept the sad news at top of mind. Last night there was a portrait of the big guy etched in laser light on Table Mountain, and flags are half mast. Conversations have taken a more reflective bent, and in general there’s been a sense of shared emotion. It’s one of those times, to be savoured in their bittersweet rarity, when we all feel we are South Africans, no matter what.
We’re missing you, Mr Mandela. Thanks for what you’ve given us.
Nic Dawes, until recently the editor of the Mail & Guardian, and now working for the Hindustan Times, wrote this article that speaks to the experience of Mandela’s life and death for South Africans and for the world too. Read here (image of Indian schoolkids at a vigil for Mandela via Helen Walne).
And then, as the message is that we need to all emulate of this man’s life in order to grow in a positive direction, and a catchy tune and feelgood vibes help spread this kind of message, enjoy watching this from Trenton and Free Radicals:
Penny
Hi Heather
I have been listening and watching so many tributes to Madiba here in the UK. What a sad loss for us all, I wore my shweshwe Mandela skirt to work on Friday to pay a little tribute to him. Thank you for sharing this post for those of us no longer living in SA xox Penny
Joan
I didn’t know it would hurt so much to lose this great man! Thank you so much, Madiba!
Shirley lei
I feel like there have been few public figures whose life and death have captured the hearts of so many around the world. Some that I can recall (though just a child then) are princess diana and mother Theresa. And while I was not alive when ghandi was around, he is a figure I revered. In the US, Martin Luther king jr was one such figure who passed before my time but whose impact can be felt to this day. I didn’t learn much about Nelson Mandela in school (a shame if you ask me – so much for world history), but I understand the importance of his life, his beliefs, and his work. Bless the good man!