Well it was way back in 1990 when Dinah came to our family as a new domestic worker/maid. In South Africa the dynamic of having a maid is vastly different then it is in the United States, a dynamic I wont be getting into in this post.
This post is about Dinah Khuzeka, a phenomenal woman, a great mother to her 5 children and someone who grew to be a mother figure in my own life. Dinah started working for us when I was in 4th grade, which was 21 years ago. We’ve lived in three houses during this time, we’ve lived, we’ve loved, we’ve lost and we have most definitely all grown throughout the 21 years, and my goodness how fast the years have flown by. Dinah’s been at all the weddings, the funerals, the milestone birthday parties, the births of the grand kids, she’s been with our family, a member of our family, through it all.
This December Dinah is retiring and will be living out her golden years at her house in Aliwal North, which is roughly 10 hours by car from Johannesburg. While Dinah has most definitely worked hard to provide for her family and deserves this retirement, more than most I know, I still cannot lie that I will not miss her!! I already miss her by me living here and her living back home, but this will be different!! Hard to explain really, but she’s always been around, she’s always at home when I go back and she’s always there when I call on Skype and we catch up and joke about.
I realize that my not wanting her to retire is selfish, but I don’t want to NOT be able to talk to her when I call and my mom isn’t home and she answers, I don’t want to have to worry extra about my mom knowing Dinah wont be there to help her out. Again, I know it’s selfish, she so richly deserves to go and relax now, she’s always been there for us, she’s always been there for everyone else, it’s her time now to sit back and relax and have others take care of her!!
I love you Dinah!! I will miss you, but I will NOT say goodbye, rather I will say “See You Later!!” I also want to say THANK YOU!! Thank you for so often been there for me, for my family, often times before your own, thank you for been in my life, for all you’ve taught me, and all the crap you put up with from me while I was a kid ;)!!
Debs js loved this when I read it to Dinah she burst out crying, she was sobbing and that started me off. Then when we left for CT she jus hugged me and sobber and sobbed a real Mc Loughlin hahaha. It really was a beautiful blog. Love u angel.