Friday 12 February 2010

the start of the journey

11 February 1990

Twenty years ago I watched Nelson Mandela walk to freedom.

MasterM lay on the floor in front of me, 10 weeks old.
It was a moment of such pure optimism,
it seemed as though anything was possible,
and I knew that my son would grow up
in a world where apartheid was history.

Twenty years later MasterM is in the new South Africa
and I look back and wonder.
So many of the decisions that he has made
have led him to this choice
but I think that moment was the very beginning,
the start of the journey.

Perhaps it is just as well
that none of us can know
what the future will bring.

9 comments:

  1. Just seeing that photo gave me shivers. And then reading your words gave me even more. Life is a wonder, isn't it?

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  2. Such a powerful image - along with the fall of the Berlin Wall a real 'Do you remember where you were when...' moment in modern history. Both moments many of us never thought we'd see in our lifetime

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  3. Such an iconic photograph.

    No2 and I were talking of going to South Africa only last night. It's top of my list.

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  4. It is good that we don't know what the future will hold but it is wonderful to look back and see where we have come.

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  5. yes amazing!

    The circle of life...

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  6. I remember that day too. And yes, like Lynn, I have the shivers.

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  7. It gave me the shivers, too. And reminded me of listening to reports of the fall of the Berlin Wall at a house on the beach over Christmas when N was one month old. Time is an odd thing --

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  8. Amazing ...
    Paola

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  9. So glad MasterM is enjoying his time in South Africa. Amazing how our lives can be affected by history in such powerful ways.

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