The Matrics of 2011

We ended 2011 by seeing our eldest daughter finish her schooling at an institution she has attended since she started pre-school there at the age of three. It had been her second home, yet this only started dawning on her as the final term of matric drew to a close, and she began to realize the enormity of the security and structure school had provided for her. For me it was a very emotional phase, as I could remember as clearly as if it were yesterday taking her for her first interview, and being so afraid the principal would enquire whether she was out of nappies, as she still wore one at night.


She spent mostly happy years there, fulfilling my dream of her attending one school, unlike me, who had moved schools so often that it was difficult, if not impossible to maintain friendships. On this front, she has scores of good and loyal friends, so from that point of view, mission accomplished. We all cried and sang as our "babies" walked two by two down the avenue to be seated at the Valedictory, and were each handed a long stemmed white rose. It was an emotionally charged day and a final letting go, which only the beautiful garden party and frothing glasses of bubbly could soothe. For her matriculating also marks us as aging parents, and that takes some getting used to!


Prize giving,  shirt signing and the matric march to school for final teacher farewells preceded the day when the exams officially began. We had only one near disaster, when I received an SOS to bring her exam card to school in death defying time. Fortune favoured us, as I was at that moment able to get to school with hazards on and curse the expense, muttering all the way, "why did I ever have them!?" The atmosphere at home was predictably tense, but it had been worse, so we hoped any prayed that all had gone smoothly, despite complaints about "the toughest, meanest exams ever!"

Come the 5th January and tensions ran high. She delayed so much,  physically nauseous with nerves and not wanting to go to school to collect her results, that we missed the unveiling of the notice board. She has always been a diligent scholar (no learners in this blog) but has never made it into the realms of usual prizewinners, so our expectations were average.  I prepared to avoid the predictably smug parents.


However, our baby shone, and could not hide her disbelief and joy when she opened her results. It was the proudest moment of my life, and suddenly the years spent shopping for uniforms, labelling them (sometimes not so lovingly), driving her to and from school and packing those (often untouched) lunches, attending teacher meetings and boring meet-and-greet the other parents events (when did all that begin, she wonders?) and the financial sacrifices melted away. It had all been worth it.

She really pulled it out the hat, and we are so very, very proud of her! UCT - here she comes...

  Love from a very proud Suzy Q