Debbie's arrival

    I continued working for the Tax Department until about the seventh month. I had changed my health-care doctors to the Railway Clinic since Mel was working as the Railway Photographer and as such he and  his family were entitled to full medical care. The Doctor to whom I was assigned was Dr. Drummond, an unmarried  man who proved to be averse to pregnant women. During the last few weeks of my pregnancy I started to faint quite often, and since I had a  history of anemia I asked if he would take a blood test which he refused to do stating, "I'm tired of pregnant women, they always think there is something wrong with them." So, I went on fainting and did not ask again. When  eventually I went into labour, Dr. Drummond just happened to be too ill to attend

Married two months . . .

    After we were married about two months I started having pain in my stomach. Since I was still working I went to the medical complex which I had used and they assigned me to the woman doctor. She examined me and then asked, "How long have you been married?" I told her and she started scolding me, she said, "There is absolutely nothing wrong with you and you should be ashamed of yourself! Start considering your poor husband and give him more attention. Stop being such a crybaby!" Well, I was pretty devastated and after church the next day we went to my parents' home for lunch. I had another severe attack and Rona said, "You need to go to the doctor!" to which I replied, "I'm not going back again to be told that iI am imagining things!" She said, "Don't be silly, you are obviously in a lot of pain" Well, I returned the next day and was assigned to one of the male doctors. As soon as he examined me he sent me to their surgeon who immediately sent me to the hospital. He said, "Don't even go home first, go now! I will them to admit you to the surgical ward. They prepped me  and the next thing I knew I was in surgery where the

A musical memory

    Let me back-up a little in order to share a reflection. When I was 12 years old my Dad bought an old wood-framed piano and enrolled me in the Bulawayo Music Academy in order to learn how to play. My cousin, Joan, had been learning since she was very young and was already an accomplished pianist who often played in the concerts in the city hall. She was a year older than I and we were good friends. I  took lessons for five years. It soon became very clear to Mrs. Munn, the owner of the academy, that I was particularly proficient in Music Theory and she started to use me to  help teach the little kids. One day there was a parade in town and as it passed the Academy we took the little kids out onto the balcony, which had a wooden railing around it,  to watch the parade pass by. When I gathered the kids together to go back to their lessons I looked back so see a little boy standing at the railings with tears streaming down his little face. I went to him to see what was the matter, "My knee is stuck in he hole and I can't get it out," he whispered. So I said, "I can fix that, just slowly straighten your leg and it will come out while I press on the rail." Of course it came out and he was smiling again. It was about the time I was getting ready to come over to go to Abilene Christian College and Mrs. Munn called me into

Lovely surprise!

Just a little interlude (out of sequence). We live in the Versant Place apartment complex. A few days ago we had a message from the office asking that we come in on the afternoon of January 28th after 5 p.m., to sign our new lease. They informed us that if we came in that day we would be given a number which, if it was drawn after the little reception, would give us a month's free rent when our new lease came into effect. They also informed me that we were due for a redecoration of our apartment plus a $500.00 reduction for the first month. This latter was determined even if our number was not called. Of course we took advantage of the experience. When the time came for the numbers to be called the first two numbers were not present, then came the third one, Dad  pulled the card from my hand and -- you've guessed it -- we will came back from South Africa to a free month's rent. I cried.

Back to the mundane

   When we settled into our little flat (apartment) we went about really starting our married life. Our furniture was given to us by our parents. It was old, but we were very grateful for it. My parents had given us an old double-bed which sagged in the middle, but we learned how to lie so that were not rolling into each other all the time. The living room was mainly furnished by Mel's folks. We were very comfortable! The flat had no stove so Ma bought us a Baby Belling stove which consisted of one small oven and one large hot plate which covered the whole top of the stove. "Baby" was very good description as we were able to stand it on a small table. It is amazing how I learned to cook meals big enough and tasty enough to feed us and any guests we had! Usually a small roast with potatoes and carrots cooking with it -- yum! Mom had taught me how to make a roast with cheap, tough meat into a tender, delicious roast, a method I still use to this day. The flat was on the first floor (second in America-- we called the first floor the ground floor), so we had to climb up one flight to enter. It was situated

Matopo Hills

   The Matopo Hills are situated about fifteen miles from our home town, Bulawayo, in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). They are magnificent granite stone hills. We have seen trees growing out of massive rocks where a seed had fallen in a small crack, and with the wondrous work of  God, they have split the rock and grown into lovely trees. The power of our God's creation is too marvelous for our finite minds to grasp. Well, in the middle of these vast  rocks is one which is an enormous dome with a flat top. It rises way above the other rocks and was named "World's View" by, I believe, Cecil John Rhodes, after whom our country was named. In the centre of this magnificent rock

The honeymoon

    Last time I stopped after the wedding. When we left the church we went to a restaurant in town before proceeding to the hotel in the Matopo Hills where Mel had reserved the honeymoon suite. When we arrived they told us, "Oh, a newly-married couple came in earlier and we assumed they were you and we gave them the suite, but we have another very nice room we can give you." What could we do? We accepted the substitute. Both of us were absolutely exhausted from the pre-wedding arrangements and  the next morning as we went to the car to go to set up the camp-site where we planned to spend a week,  I promptly passed clean-out (I fainted) right  beside the car. Being a first aider Mel knew what to do, and we went on our way. Let me explain something to you before I proceed We really did not have the money to afford a fancy honeymoon, so we decided, since Mel was an experienced Boy Scout camper, to spend a week in the gorgeous Matopo Hills, an area

Yippee! . . . Frenzy!

    We dated for five months and one night we were sitting on the verandah wall which ran around the front and one side of my parent's house. We were  just talking quietly until Mel suddenly said, "Will you marry me?" I immediately responded, "Of course I will!" and threw my arms around him. I ran into the house and informed everyone, "We're going to get married!!" There was no ring at this stage. Now let me introduce a little fact here. Mel lived at opposite side of the  town so we made a little arrangement. With our parents' permission we had arranged alternate weekends at the two parental homes. At our house Mel slept on a single bed which was situated in the entrance hall of our home  (my Dad often used that bed for his afternoon naps because it was out of the way of the general family movements in house). Our house-phone was situated on the wall above the bed. When it was my turn to stay with Mel's parents

Lois's Later Life

    Well, since the last message, After Mel started to come to church I made sure he was invited to all the church activities, by inviting him myself. Seldom was he unable to attend. For five straight months he did not ask me out on a date!! My brother Frikkie  (nick-name for Roland Frederick) knew how I felt about Mel, and he saw the way Mel often looked at me and knew he was attracted, (Mel later admitted that when we were in church he would often send side-long glances at me and wish, I never  saw that!) so he asked Mel straight out why he didn't ask me. Mel told him he was right, but he felt I would not go out wth him because I was better educated than  he. Frikkie told him he knew I would accept. So Mel

Lois's Latest

    I wrote about my life before marriage, and sent it to our children. Since then I have been asked several times to relate my life after marriage. So let's start at the beginning.

    I met Mel when he was six and I was 10. His mother was expecting another baby and was feeling so unwell that my mother invited her, along with a cute little son, to come and live with us for a while. I fell in love with him straight away (though not with a future marriage in mind !!!) We played together our in the sand with his Dinky Toy Cars, and built roads and tunnels and everything else we could think of. World War II was raging and our petrol (gasoline) was severely rationed, so Mel's Dad would ride out to our farm on his bicycle to visit his little family.

    The two families bonded and the Sheasbys became life-long friends. My family had moved to a small settlement outside Bulawayo, my home town. After school I often went to the Sheasby's house for the