Grandma Lenie Brand Poem by Gert Strydom

As one of the pioneers in the Vryburg district
she lived with her husband Danie Brand
(a second cousin of late President Jan Brand
of the Orange Free State Republic)
on the farm Welgemeen.

When her husband passed away in 1938
grandma Lenie
took over the farming
and if work is a gift

she was really blessed in it
as she wielded a pickaxe
digging holes along with her sons
and the labourers

putting up fences, herded cattle
and still at fifty-six
milked cows,
if the workers did not turn up.

Today you would not expect this
of a fine woman,
who was really religious
farming by herself

in the years
just before the Second World War
and she was one of the esteemed
farmers in the Vryburg district

and she bought a Willis motorcar
and later a model t-Ford,
with which the family travelled to Vryburg
to do they’re shopping.

Grandma Lenie was known
for her philanthropy
and her willingness to help,
lived as if every day
was a deed of love,

was quite strict,
but also really fair
and still I remember
how she looked at me with shining eyes.