Crown Gardens golden anniversary couple dies four months apart

On March 22 in 2020, Lucky Thusi from the COURIER helped me to write an article about my parents celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

With sadness and a lot of tears, I asked Lucky if he could once again assist me with an article, but this time a tribute to my parents.

The last two years were no walk in the park for my parents, but rather a difficult and stressful time. Mum was in and out of hospital and dad, well, he tried to be strong. With both having health scares over the past few years, we were all worried about the deadly coronavirus and did our part in keeping them safe.

I moved away in May 2021 to live with my in-laws in Vrede and my parents weren’t very happy with the idea, but as loving parents, they supported our decision.

At the end of June, both my in-laws were diagnosed with Covid-19 and we were all devastated but never knew what was lying ahead for us. On July 8, 2021, a day before my birthday, my father-in-law died and 15 days later on July 23, my mother-in-law also died.

This devastated me. I then received a call that my mum was admitted to the hospital and they didn’t know what was wrong. All her symptoms sounded like Covid-19, but we had to wait for the results.

While waiting on the news about my mum, we decided to move back to Johannesburg to be near my parents, and on August 6, 2021, we came back. As we arrived at my sister’s house, my dad called and told me my mum was out of the hospital but was doing worse.

As weeks passed, I saw my mum getting worse and worse every day, but she refused to go back to the hospital until my sister had enough courage and called the ambulance on September 3 to take her back to the hospital.

During those 25 days, my mum could no longer walk. I had to put her on nappies, bathe her in bed and feed her. Something was killing her day by day and we didn’t know what. With the strict Covid-19 measures, we weren’t allowed to visit my mum and the only way to communicate with her was with video or voice calls and SMSes.

This was getting to my dad, as he was not used to not having my mum around him. Previously, he could visit her in the hospital but later he was not allowed to. On September 16, I received a call from my sister that we all had to go to the hospital. The doctor informed us that my mum had some sort of infection she picked up in the hospital and there was nothing they could do for her, and if she lived, she would have to go to a frail-care facility.

This was devastating news, not just for us as her daughters but also for our dad. How do you prepare yourself that your wife of 51 years might not come home? This took a toll on my dad, but he kept on being strong for us.

Then we received another call on September 23 that we needed to go greet my mum. Wow, how do you say goodbye and go home? We all did and the next day, we went to visit my mum but this time, some were not allowed in. Nothing could prepare me for my mum’s death after standing outside the hospital door on September 24, not being allowed to see her for the last time.

This was just too much – losing three parents in less than three months. After my mum’s funeral, I moved to Durban as I could not see the sadness in my dad’s eyes anymore.

But life had a different story for us and my dad got very ill. On December 8, I took my dad to a private doctor, and he said he had a heart attack and that he needed to be admitted. My dad was admitted the same night as he started battling to breathe. On December 10, we got a call that my dad had tested positive for Covid-19.

This was five months after my in-laws died. I knew what the next few weeks had in store for us as a family. My heart was in pieces, knowing we would lose another parent. But with a lot of prayers and God’s mercy, my dad came home and spent his last Christmas and New Year with his family.

Everything was going well. My dad was recovering well and even started to walk without my mum’s walker, so I made a big dream real and moved to Durban, not knowing my dad would fall on the night of January 11 and break his hip.

After that night, nothing was the same for him and he spent hours in pain in the hospital, as they could not operate because of his medical condition. Days turned into weeks and weeks into a month of severe pain.

He fought as hard as he could but on February 12, he lost this battle and also died of an infection he picked up in the hospital. How weird that both my parents died of an infection in the same hospital four months and 19 days apart.

In seven months, I lost all four of my parents. This is a pain I can’t explain to anyone. My sisters lost two parents in four months. How can the world be so cruel? How do you carry on? Well, you take it day by day and with all the memories of your loved ones.

Some of the tributes by their children

A tribute to my parents

God saw that both of you were getting tired, a cure was not to be.

So He put his arms around you both and whispered, “Come with Me.”

With tearful eyes, we watched you both suffer and saw you both fade away.

Although we love you both dearly, we could not make you stay.

Two golden hearts stopped beating, hardworking hands to rest.

With silent voices, God broke our hearts to prove to us He only takes the best.

Rest in peace, daddy and mammie.

Love you always and forever, Annie.

I would like to thank the community of Annie Burger for loving and caring for my parents. They all were family.

And then a special thanks to my dad’s brother, Hans Jacobs, who also stays in Annie Burger. His support and love for us mean the world. He is now our father figure.

Lea-Ann Jansen

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