Die RSG radioengel en haar kollega wat aans by haar oorneem gesels vanmore oor hoe mens kies om deur die lewe te gaan. Dat God vir jou alles gee en die weg baan en dan moet jy kies hoe om jou lewenslied te sing. Ek glimlag en verbeel my hoe stik klomp kermkous klipchristene in hulle tee, toe Amore sê sy verstaan nie hoe mense wat vertel hulle in God en Sy genade glo, so kan kerm, kla en swartgal nie.

Eloïse groet altyd met “die lewe is ‘n lied” – of hy nou vrolik of hartseer, brullend of blêrend is, sing moet jy bly sing. Ek hou daarvan.

Ek gaan vir Amore Alhoebekker mis, maar sien uit om met Eloïse te Intussen van 8 Mei af. Hulle albei se positiwiteit is so teen ons menslike tendense in. Stroomop soos ek daarvan hou.

My Elisa het opgedaag na ses weke se skeiding, waar sy Waterval se plante wat saam moes trek versorg het, en ek by die Heskiehuis huis aanmekaar moes sit. Salig dat ek haar in die huis hoor en ek kan kom sit en my gedagtes op die qwerty sleutels uitwarrel.

My moeë moerige maar dankbare lewenslied begin al meer na borrelende vreugdevolheid en volle bors lof neig. Om weer voluit myself te wees, nie in roetine en onrus en onvrede vasval nie. G’n niks se half lewenslied singery nie. Ek gaan my ou deuntjie opkikker met ‘n nuwe wysie!

‘n Gedig “Muere Lentamente” van Brasiliaanse skrywer Martha Medeiros, skrywer van etlike boeke en joernalis by die Porto Alegre koerant Zero Hora, is my aansporing om juigend te lewenslied.

Die slowly


He who becomes the slave of habit,
who follows the same routes every day,
who never changes pace,
who does not risk and change the colour of his clothes,
who does not speak and does not experience,
dies slowly.

He or she who shuns passion,
who prefers black on white,
dotting ones “i’s” rather than a bundle of emotions, the kind that make your eyes glimmer,
that turn a yawn into a smile,
that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings,
dies slowly.

He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy,
who is unhappy at work,
who does not risk certainty for uncertainty,
to thus follow a dream,
those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives,
die slowly.

He who does not travel, who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself,
she who does not find grace in herself,
dies slowly.

He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem,
who does not allow himself to be helped,
who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck, about the rain that never stops,
dies slowly.

He who abandons a project before starting it, who fails to ask questions on subjects he doesn’t know, and those who don’t reply when they are asked something they do know,
die slowly.

Let’s try and avoid death in small doses,
reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort far greater than the simple fact of breathing.

Only a burning patience will lead
to the attainment of a splendid happiness.”

― Martha Medeiros