Tracy-Jean Povall

The last 20 years...
After Rotary exchange (tough and lonely year putting on a brave face) came back to CT to study Occupational therapy at UCT. Was in digs with Helene McDonald initially, and reconnected with Carol Templeton and was adopted and loved by her family for my university years; had a classic doomed love affair with totally the wrong highly magnetic person, and a few other minor romances, a few near death car accidents, then was vigorously pursued by Trevor who is now the father of my five children .......................... Most people need a moment to recover from that information.

First job was as single-handed OT at Victoria hospital, during which time I got married in a sort of bring and braai style, due to lack of parental financial/approval support. The reason for this was that besides being an unemployed widower (had stopped work due to late wife's illness and then decided not to return to his field of toolmaking (engineering) and was filling a temporary teaching post which he loved) which was all acceptable enough for my mother, the BIG challenge came when she discovered that the coloured guy standing in her garden was her daughter's prospective husband. Sigh, so the first two years of courtship were VERY stressful, because my mum envisaged me overalled, curlers under my doek, fag hanging out of my floppy lips sans front teeth, snotty little kids on my legs, living in Woodstock. What a waste of all those years of hard work getting me a good education!

And poor Dad who having finally undisinherited me and still hoping for his little girl lost to return to him in Johannesburg nearly had a fit when he realised that all would be lost of I got married, nearly didn't come to the wedding. He did, and Mum finally got around her reservations, and here we are married 13 years later...and I still have my front teeth! And as it turned out Dad did get to spend his last years living with me.

Two years after our bring your own cake and sandwiches wedding we welcomed the arrival of identical twin daughters Amy and Jessica, after 8 weeks hospitalisation to keep them from arriving too early (my 100% cover medical aid went bottoms up soon thereafter). I stopped full time work, started locuming in kids' learning disabilities, opened my own practice at home after a couple of years, and have been raising kids, nursing my Dad through his last years with Alzheimer's, and working very part time in between. Trevor never did return to toolmaking, and started a garden service business which he still runs, so we are both self-employed from home, reasonably sane most of the time, quite often fairly broke, but hey, we're still standing (not without a lot of help from God).

So we now have 11 year old twins, Amy and Jessica, almost 7 year old Isobel (the family fireball - seriously fiesty), Benjamin (the one bold boy) aged nearly 5, and gorgeous Gwynneth, 2 in August. All very artistic and musical, which we try to encourage, and I am home schooling them, so let's hope they all turn out well, not too loopy (and that all that expensive education stands me in good stead). St Cyps needn't take offense that they aren't all enrolled there - I actually really enjoyed my years there, (and I do apologise for being overbearing and bossy to anyone I may have offended at the time. Actually I am still bossy, although there has been some character development over time I believe).

Thoughts on high school and teachers
Number one spot goes to Mrs Thorburn who told me that printing was a sign of immaturity and got me writing properly, and also encouraged me as a personin her ferocious but cute way; Mrs Garvey that nightmarish head of boarding house who persecuted me relentlessly and couldn't stand my guts, who prepared me for the tough sideof life (I guess...); that poor disorganised biology teacher that jumped up and down at the end of her tether shouting ''Get out! Get out! Get out!'' when I'd asked too many questions or contradicted her teaching with all my photocopied biology notes from my buddy at another school.

Peers that impacted my life were Judy Smith and Jeanine Fick who played a part in my becoming a Christian in std 7, so that when we did that traditional confirmation (with white veils and all) it was a true confirmation of my faith for me, rather than a religious ritual.

Am I where I envisaged I would be 20 years on?
To be honest I didn't have that much of a clear view ahead, although my best friend from that time says that I said I wanted 5 children - so there you go!

email: trossouw (at) absamail (dot) co (dot) za