^{My family}

I love my family with all my heart and with all your soul and with all my strength and with all my mind!

It is my honor to share my family with you today.

Some history

I am the first child of three in my immediate family. My maiden surname is “Oosthuizen” which was my dad’s surname. My mom was a maiden with the surname “De Jongh”.

Coat of arm	Surname	History
	Oosthuizen	Oosthuizen a village in the Dutch province of North Holland and means "House of east".
	De Jongh	The De Jongh surname was first found in Holland and means “Junior”.

The first Oosthuizen was born in South Africa in 1678.

^{120 Years reunion}

In 2018 I arranged for a family reunion celebrating 120 years on our side of Oosthuizen’s in South Africa.

My grandparents

My grandpa, Frans, was born on 12 Januarie 1898 and passed away on 26 Februarie 1970.

My grandma, Maryna, was born on 05 Junie 1900 and passed away on 28 September 1971.

They were married for 52 years when my grandpa fell ill and passed away. My grandma was heartbroken and the year after she joined him in heaven.

I remember my grandpa so well. He always said that if he had to ask the Lord for one thing it would be to take me to school on my first school day. Unfortunately he got very sick and the only thing he could do was to wave me goodbye as my mom drove off.

I thank the old 8mm cameras as I was so lucky that my dad could capture the moment on camera. It was also the last time he got out of his sick bed.

My grandma had a heart of gold. She was indeed an angel, always smiling, soft of nature but a fighter for her family. I can remember so clearly how she always smelled like lavender.

^{The family register shows my dad as the fourth born}

Family is like branches on a tree – each one grows in a different direction but the roots stays as one, the anchor of all families

My dad, Ockert

My grandma prayed for another child for many years. At the age of 45 the Lord blessed her with a 2nd baby boy, my dad. She never thought that she would fell pregnant at that age. To top it, her and her oldest daughter was pregnant at the same time. My dad’s was 16 years younger than his brother, the youngest of the siblings.

My dad was not only a miracle but he was also very special! He was our rock and he is still that special man in my life.

As I wrote in a previous post he was a man who stood for;

• Family values
• Integrity
• Honesty
• Hard working
• Providing
• Compassion
• Respect
• Loyalty and so much more

He never said no and he always put his family first. Weekends was always dedicated to his family from movies on a Friday night to window shopping on a Sunday afternoon.

He was a “fixer”.He could fix anything. I came home from work the one afternoon and noticed that the street name was painted on the pavement as I turned into the street. I told my mom that I saw the municipality was painting the street names. “No my child, it was not the municipality. It was your dad” she told me.

Now that was dad! One of a kind!

^{My dad}

My mom, Marthie

They say that dynamite comes in small packages. Well that is my mom! The woman who can keep up with my mom must still be born. She has always been the one who kept the whole family together from uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews and nieces. Everybody adores her.

We call her “oumie”, short for ouma which is the Afrikaans for grandmother.

As a young lady she chose not to go to university but to work at an orphanage. At the age of 18 she was house mother for all the little ones. As children we were lucky as we had so many brothers and sisters looking after us.

My mom was very strict on the three of us. Gosh! She only spoke once and the second time you knew you were in trouble. Three words she hammered into us, “thank you” and “please”.

My mom was the best cook in the whole world! I say was as she is now 85 and doesn’t cook anymore. Her food was always so yummy especially Sunday lunches and her biscuits.

In memory of my mom’s great cooking I published a recipe book with all her and her family’s famous recipes. What makes this cook book so special is that all the recipes are hand written by her.

For the last 25 years she’s been staying with us. After all these years I had to say goodbye to my mom earlier in the week as she now going to stay with my sister in Krugersdorp, Gauteng.

As for us, we’ve moved down to the coast, 660 kilometers away. I miss her!

^{My mom, our “oumie”}

My brother, Francois

Talk about royalty and you talk about my brother.

Faffa, as we call him, has been staying in Thailand for the last 12 years. He is well known and is loved by the upper class of Thailand. So often I get a little bit jealous that I must share him with them.

He is an editor to a prestigious Asian magazine. He is a fantastic writer who has traveled to many countries in the world and someone who can help himself in numerous languages, 36 in total if I am not mistaken.

He is not married but has plenty of children. Just like my mom he cares about orphans and support an orphanage in Cambodia. I can clearly remember how he rented tuc-tuc’s to deliver cupcakes to the orphanages. Something the children has never eaten.
I was so lucky that I still had the photos and can share them with you today.

He has a big heart and always cares about others. Oh yes, he can be stubborn and true to his star sign, Leo.

My sister, Maryna

They say hens are very good mothers and they tend to get very broody. Well, look no further as my sister is for sure the “mother hen” of the family.

As the youngest of the siblings she got spoiled. I’ve often said it is not nice being the oldest of the kids as I had to work to earn my way through life.

Maryna got dolls to play with whereby I had to work for pocket money so that I could buy LP records. Well, I suppose in those days LP’s did cost more than dolls.

My sister is the proud and single mother of three kids, a boy and two girls. I take my hat off to her for bringing up her kids all by herself. Her son who is the oldest lives in the beautiful city of Cape Town and the two girls in Krugersdorp.
My sus, her youngest daughter and my mother is now living together.

She works mostly at a swim school during the day doing the admin and riding around with the little children, fetching and taking them. According to the owner of the establishment Maryna is her left and right hand.

^{My sister Maryna and her family}

That brings me lastly to my two children, Taitem and Tamsin

Taitem, the brainy one of the family, lives with his wife and her two children in Ireland. He is a neurosurgeon. The meaning of the name “Tait” is “joyful” and that is what he is, a happy and brainy young man with a bright future ahead of him. He is the one to blame for me being a grandmother at a young age.

Cheers to the Irish!

I’m not going to say more about my son as I want to do a full post about him, who he is and what he stands for.

^{My son Taitem and his family}

Tamsin, my daughter, lives with her hubby and two children in Krugersdorp. My “darling daughter” as I call her. I have written about her in a previous post and the hardship she went through as a premature born baby and growing up thereafter.

One thing I didn’t wrote about is how funny she is. Gosh! She is forever posting videos on TikTok.

Ok, I left one thing out, she is not only funny but she is also very loud. She is by far the tiniest in our family but by far also the loudest.

Tamsin is a qualified Learn to swim instructor and a Babynastix instructor at various schools in the area.

She was born a mother!

^{My daughter Tamsin and her family}

This my dear Steemian friends is my blood family.

We are a true family who stood by each other second after second, minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year!

I was a restaurant owner for many years.

Dad – did the renovations and repairs
Mom – baked the desserts
Francois – helped with the marketing
Maryna – was a manager
Taitem – was a waiter
Tamsin - was a waiter and entertained the clients

This they all did out of love and without expecting any payment!

And this is then also our recipe for a success family;

❦ 7 cups of love
❦ 1 cup of understanding
❦ ½ cup of patience
❦ 1 big spoon of teamwork

I don't like my family... I LOVE my family!

I invite:
@morpheussa
@senehasa
@baycan