Norma Stevenson says farewell with final letter

Even the fullest and most inspirational stories have their conclusion.

Approaching her 97th birthday, Ons Huis resident, Norma Stevenson shared with us several tales from her youth. Sadly, Mrs Stevenson passed away on Sunday, June 6 at 05:3. Speaking to Ons Huis social worker, Daleen Boshoff, Mrs Stevenson said, “You know that letter about the girl scouts I gave you? That was my last letter. I am done. I want to go home.”

Here is that final letter:

Dear Friends and Mothers
Encourage your daughters and sons to be girl guides and boy scouts. There can be so much to learn that they will remember for the rest of their lives. In Queenstown, there was a brick hut made for the meetings of the girl guides, near the Frontier Hospital. The Eastern Cape is known for its snakes and we used to go on hikes in the veld among the thorn trees near the mountain, Longhill, singing all the way.

Other times we would go to Berry Dam for a picnic. The banks of Berry Dam were a great place to have a picnic, with tall weeping willow trees on the other side of the dam like a small forest. Above the dam was Longhill. There were plenty of baboons on the mountain and somehow they never worried us, I think they had enough food on the mountain.

My two life-long friends were also girl guides. Another outing was to Bongolo Dam. We were having photos on a big rock and afterwards the girl guides left but my friend Palma continued to sit on the rock with me. All of a sudden, a very long brown snake, its head round, flew passed us and we had the nerve to see where the snake went towards the bushes.

Later in the day, Palma said, “Lets go to the dam to fetch fresh water”. We took the lowest climb to the dam and Palma took off her shoes and socks and went into the dam. Luckily, she didn’t go too far in the dam. I was at the edge of the dam with my shoes and socks on when Palma told me she was sinking in the dam and could not lift up her legs. With all my strength, I pulled her out of the water. It was quick yellow sand.

Later in life, I was Palma’s bridesmaid. She married a Royal Air Force officer in Queenstown during World War II. Now at the picnic, our leader gave us a raw egg and she told us to turn it into a hard boiled egg. With no pot, we looked at each other in amazement. Now girl guides always have a fire burning with hot water in a kettle or big pot. The secret is to take a little water, wrap the egg in mud, throw it into the fire and after a short while, take the mud off the egg and there you have a hard boiled egg.

Those were such happy days being a girl guide, I could write more … Those days my parents made sure I went to Sunday School and church, and also to young people’s own church like Sunshine Band and youth meetings. Sunday School picnics were a great event as were concerts at church and concerts at school, never to be forgotten. Sport was a must. I thank God for the teachings of my parents and my grandparents.