Jan’s Memoirs

After the passing of our boy Quanto, an overseas holiday served to ease the pain of having lost a dear friend and companion. Each day had new sights and experiences, allowing us to follow a set, pre-planned programme for the next two weeks. But losing Quanto continued to remain uppermost in my mind. Upon our […]

Looking back, some of the most valuable lessons in my dog training career came not from training the dogs, but from the people and animals who needed something more than obedience. My training as an educational psychologist stood me in good stead here, because it included dealing with blind and deaf, cerebral palsy and autistic

For a brief period of time, Michael was our only child remaining at home and would grab breakfast before dashing off to work. He would return for supper or would phone to say that he was going somewhere with his friends. We were happy to have him because we missed the times before the children

Being back in Cape Town meant living in our own home again in Simon’s Town but also taking up a new role as headmaster of Tafelberg Remedial school in Sea Point. Finally, I hoped to be able to find a dog training club near our home to properly train our German shepherd dogs. Something I

After his scary, jaundice diagnosis and brief treatment after birth, we were able to bring home a beautiful, healthy boy. With his blonde hair, blue eyes and smiley face, Michael was the apple of everyone’s eye and whenever he was awake, he had our full attention. He was a strong baby and early to crawl.

Once we were back in Welkom I missed Coxswain so much, that I started searching the newspapers for dog adverts. This went on for a while until I saw an advert for pedigree German Shepherd puppies. The breeder lived in Meyerton, a suburb of Johannesburg. It was not difficult to get Phyllis to go with

I do not remember when I saw my first chess set or when or where I acquired my own set. New things always interested me, like when I heard about a new universal language that was being spoken by thousands of people. I found a leaflet about Esperanto and immediately started learning and finding opportunities

Once I had bought a house in Welkom, we began to settle down as a family. The children had successfully settled into their schools. Phyllis was teaching at Welkom Primary School and Michael had started his schooling there. Colin was at Aurora Primary School and Nikki had been accepted into St Agnes Convent. My office

Once I had broken the news to Phyllis and explained to the kids why we were not going to Bloemfontein anymore, but to Welkom in the Orange Free State, we did some hasty research, as it was not a place either of us had ever heard of. We established that it was a flourishing gold

Having been promoted to Head of Department of the Primary School, sent me in a new direction the significance of which I did not fully comprehend at the time. Fulfilling the role of woodwork teacher in the same school where I was also a high school teacher provided me with an easier adjustment to my

My involvement with Naval cadets had brought me closer to the sea and ships. I also regularly found myself watching members of the Simon’s Town yacht club sailing each Wednesday afternoon. From our home balcony, that overlooks the beautiful False Bay, I would select a yacht and follow its progress in the race. Nikki and

When I think back on the teachers who taught me, I have this picture of mature teachers who were experienced and respected by us all despite us relentlessly taking the mickey out of them, mostly not malicious, just testing them, seeing what we could get away with. Our parents deeply respected our teachers and encouraged

Nikki celebrated her first birthday with a group of friends in our garden playing in her new, red blow-up swimming pool. Her aunt Joan came specially to be with her then because she and her husband, Nikki’s Uncle Nick, had planned to go on holiday to the Northern Transvaal. They had bought a new Morris

It was indeed a happy return to the work I loved – and to find that the staff had missed me was a bonus. Extra mural activities such as Hockey, Cricket and Athletics kept me busy for long hours after school. Phyllis paid attention to Nikki at home and as a teacher got her interested

The campsite where we were stayed for a week was very centrally positioned and allowed us the option of using public transport or driving the Bee as preferred. Paris transport is very congested, and I could not, at times, avoid receiving hoots of protest when, to move faster, would slip into the vacant right traffic

Armed with Thomas Cook Travellers cheques and a well filled “Dusty Bee” we started our European journey towards Dover. Closer to the town I started feeling and hearing irregular engine noises and spluttering. This was very worrying especially as we were only just setting off on our long “trek” across Europe. I pulled into the

This was my very first visit to this huge city and one I had dreamt about visiting. Luckily Phyllis had taught at schools in the city and worked at Lyon’s tearoom and had some experience of the city. She knew her way about the metro and how to get to most places. I remembered that

After Nicolette’s birth in 1963, we were ready to go visit Europe with the dual purpose of touring many different countries but also for me to be introduced to my newly acquired  French family. In particular, I was looking forward to meet “Bambine” Brondolo, Phyllis’s grandmêre, as well as “Uncle Fidel” and “Tante Perrine” whom

Not long after our wedding we started hearing questions like, “When do we get the good news about a family? “etc. We had to get used to smiling and changing the discussion because we did not feel like explaining to people what our family plans were. In any case, we were two busy people enjoying

I well remember one afternoon in March 1959, because a chance meeting was ultimately going to be a life changer for me. As I was going home from school, a pupil, Charles Bates, came running up to me and with great excitement asked, “Sir, do you want to buy an Alsatian puppy?” I was a

Our journey started in 1958 at the Simon’s Town school where we were both teachers but had not yet been formally introduced to each other. Then a school inspection changed everything. Unknowingly, we both had remained after school to make sure that we were well prepared for our inspections the next day. Satisfied that everything

Before our wedding Phyl and I regularly discussed and planned our future road ahead. Looking back on that time, it may have been a bit of a fantasy world that we had in mind but there were some things we agreed very strongly. We had decided not to have children for five years because firstly

The Simon’s Town school offered many forms of extra-mural activities for pupils during the summer and winter terms. As a young teacher I was able to function at a level that the pupils enjoyed, and when they started winning their matches, their enthusiasm for that particular sport invariably increased. All pupils were members of either

There was a time that I knew nothingAbout my mother and father.Many times when I was extremely happy,Also a time of great sadness,Victories and defeats.A time that I could do anythingI wanted to do.Times to travel and times to consolidate,A time of learning andA time of using that knowledge,A time of strengthAnd a time of