Rebel with a cause ...

As I said before I hated high school, at the end of Standard 8 - Charlene left to get a job, but my mother and father vowed that we would all finish high school, something they had never done. My eldest sister was studious and well liked, she was Head Librarian at the same school, which had was almost like a viced Head Girl, except most of her duties were in the Library and not on the corridoors.

My middle sister just plodded through high school and from Standard 8, took up all the home industry subjects, she ended up leaving high school at the end of standard 9 to follow a career in nursing which just never worked out.

And then there was me, like I said I hated school, my mother was determined I was going to finish high school so she got me into "Modern Methods Business College" in Eloff street, Johannesburg. It was an all girls college and churned out the finest secretaries and legal secretaries in Johannesburg.

I loved my year at the College, we were treated like ladies and besides only had classes from 8:30 to 12:30 everyday. We had small classes, there were probably about 20 girls in my class a far cry from being in a class of approximatley 40 kids, mainly with disruptive boys. For some reason I always ended up in the Bad class, the teachers either walked out on us, threw us out of class or sent us to detention.

The year at college flew past even though I had a lot of catching up to do, in all of my subjects I had to do Std 6 to matric in one year. I Aced almost everything except for Shorthand, and to this day the only thing I can write and readback in Pitmans shorthand is "Dear Sir, Thank you for your letter."

My shorthand teacher, a lovely lady who had lost her children - Paul and Rose when they were babies was a very good teacher, but shorthand was like Maths you either mastered it or you didn't. I remember getting my report from her at the end of one term and she had given me an "N" for shorthand, when I enquired what an "N" was as grades normally only went from "A" to "H" (H was below 30%), she told me that "N" was for Nought or Nil whichever I preferred, she had a wicked sense of humour.

Going to college meant a bus ride into town each morning, the journey was fun it probably took between 20 minutes and half an hour. After settling in at the college, it was established that Heather who I had known since my first day at school back in Grade 1 was at the same college as me and she was friends with Nicole who was to be in my class. So we eventually ended up catching the bus together, along with the boys who were at Wits University. Nicole was great, her mom had died when she was 15, so her dad was bringing up her and her sister - to compensate for lack of attention, her dad always gave her loads of money - so when Nicole did not feel like going to college she would pay for us to go to the Movies just so that we would bunk with her.

Anyway College was a breeze, I made friends with Pauline whos' family lived in Swaziland. She was born in Australia, but her mom & dad were both from the British Isles. She had lived almost all over the world Australia, Malaysia, Swaziland, UK as her father worked for a sugar company, so where ever there was sugar fields he could be sent to. So my first bit of travelling outside of South African borders was to Swaziland in 1981.

CHARLIE

http://www.rock.co.za/files/rabbitt_index.html

I can't find the lyrics for Charlie anywhere so I am going to have to try and remember them,

Loving you is easy,
Such a beautiful thing to do,

La la la la

As dogs go you groovy,
not as predictable as some,
well you not as paranoid as Lady Marmalade,
And you're really much more fun ...

Okay if anyone has the lyrics please send then to me !!!

Those teenage years ... Rabbitt, Rules OK

OMG ... can you believe these pictures. Anyway getting to those teenage years, the first time I went to a disco was in Standard 6, 13 years old and somehow Charlene had talked me into it. They published free tickets in the "Tonight" section of "The Star" newspaper for a disco called Tramps at the Diplomat hotel, round the corner from the Joubert park in Johannesburg.

There was a spanish girl in Charlene's class who was quite a bit older than her, she lived in La Rochelle and was friendly with the Portoguese guys from the "La Rochelle United" gang. The Europeans were much more liberated that the South Africans, so going out to a disco during the week was nothing, and their parents didn't mind, however I think if mine or Charlene's mom and dad knew we would have been killed. Anyway it didn't happen often and the only reason we had to go with the guys from La Rochelle was because they had the mode of transportation.

Okay miss goody two-shoes here started off High school going to Girl guides, just so that I could get out of having to go grocery shopping on Saturday mornings. When girl guides eventually became too boring and we were allowed to go to the Sky Rink on Saturday mornings I quit Girl guides, besides there were so really hot guys at the ice-rink.

Then they started Teen disco's on Saturday afternoons, PLUMB CRAZY was down in Jeppe street in Johannesburg, I wasn't allowed to go to disco's so my mom would drop Charlene and I off at the ice-rink, we would go running across town to the disco and then 5o'clock go running back to the ice-rink in time for my mom to pick us up. It was all very innocent, there was no booze or drugs (not that we knew about anyway), just rock 'n roll. But of course having older parents Rock 'n Roll would have been the start of all Evils.

Talking of which all through high school I was teased about my father because everyone thought he was my grandfather.

We continued going to disco's without my parents knowledge but did not make a habit of it, especially after Jo-Anne and Luis were killed on that terrible night.

Jo-anne was a friend of mine in Standard 6 and she was dating Luis San Emeterio we were all in the same class in Standard 6, we hung out during the school holidays because Charlene normally worked during school holidays. I remember one day going with Jo-anne down to Luis house in Regents park / Rewlatch area and sat around while they made out. Luis was Spanish and had only been in South Africa for a couple of years, his mom never spoke a work of English - I was really there as a pawn so that his mother didn't think there was anything going on between Jo-anne and Luis, Rui was also invited that day.

Luis was nothing to look at, but he was very talented and played the drums and the guitar - he would often come to school with his guitar and during a free period or dentention when the teachers weren't around he would strum out some Beatles number or at that time a Rabbitt number. The one we loved to listen to him play was "Charlie" by Rabbitt. Had he not been killed on that fatal night back in 1979 Luis would have been famous now.

What transpired on that fatal night, was that they had all gone off to a nightclub (on a school night), on the way back there was a real bad intersection in La Rochelle and another car had collided into the side of them, pushing them into a lamp post. There were 5 of them in the car but only Jo-anne and Luis were killed. I could only believe that they must have been to good for this earth and that is why God fetched them.

Their funerals were the biggest event in the South that year, Luis funeral was in the morning at the Catholic Church in Hilbrow, there must have been over 300 people there. Jo-annes funeral was more low key in the afternoon at a funeral chapel, but they were both buried at West Park Cemetery.

High School ...

I'd say I had a pretty happy childhood, being the youngest of 3 girls and having parents that were fairly elderly, I somehow got away with Murder, this is possibly because my two older sisters gave my parents such a hard time, that my antics were angelic in comparisson.

My eldest sister was always in trouble for something or another, my middle sister who was partially deaf had the worst mood swings in the world and her and my eldest sister were always fighting and trying to kill one another, so I was just left to my own accord.

My eldest sister moved out of the house when she was 18/19 years old, so it was only myself and my middle sister left - we also never really got along and I would spend majority of my afternoons at friends houses. This also p*ssed my sister off as to pass any exams she had to really study hard, whereas I would pick up a book, read through it and know that I would scrape through. She had to repeat 2 years and we ended up being in the same standard when I started High School, so you can imagine the competition. (On her part)

If I spent the afternoon learning I could manage a "C" and if I really studied hard would get an "A" or "B". Never wanted to be an A student anyway, and my social life was much more important to me than sudying.

(Remind me to delete all of this before Emily starts learning to read)!!!

Charlene and I became friends in Standard 3, she lived down the road from me like most of my friends. My house would have been the first house on the way home for everyone, so a lot of my friends came home to my place (so I could drop off my school bag and get changed) and then I would end up at there house for the afternoon, always making sure to get home before 5o'clock as my mother got home from work at 5 and if we weren't home there would be hell to pay.

My Fathers stories...

From what I can remember there were those days when we were young, we would sit at my fathers feet and quiz him about his life.

Daddy where were you born? - "Sydney, in Australia before the war"

Do you have any brothers or sisters? - 1 brother called Peter, 2 sisters, Irene and Elizabeth and they all live in Australia.

Can you speak Afrikaans? - "No"

Can you help me with my maths? "No I only passed Std. 3"

Where are your mom and dad? "they both passed away"

Then he would tell us the stories about how they never went to school, but took lessons by radio because they lived in the Outback of Australia.

Sundays and St. Stephens Presbyterian church

Sunday School

Sunday was a family day, us kids were shipped off to Sunday School every Sunday mornig, which gave my mom & dad an hours break from us. My father would always drop us off and fetch us.

I was christened in September 1964 at the "St. Stephens, Presbyterian Church, Japie street, Rosettenville", this would have been one of the rare occasions that both my mother and my father would have attended a church service. I was put onto the Cradle Role and became a member of "St. Stephens".

My mother often attended the evening sevices later on, but from the age of 3 years old I started at the Sunday school, my eledest sister would have been 9 and was always made to look after me, so I would be dropped off at the class at 10:00 am on a sunday morning and then picked up at 11:00.

I have very fond memories of Sunday school, but then also very disturbing memories - I was alway told that God was looking down on me, watching me ... which frightened the bejayses (good Irish word) out of me. It's hard going through life trying not to do anything wrong, just in case God was watching and he would either tell your parents, teachers or worse strike you dead with a bolt of lightening. No wonder I am like I am today ...

One of my fondest memories of the Cradle section of the sunday school was learning about Moses in the bull rushes and we made little baskets out of play dough, and baby Moses was a jelly baby - well baby Moses never ever even made it home, he got eaten !!!

The wonderful thing about Sundays was that we would always get home from Sunday School to a Sunday Roast, we always had chicken and another roast meat because my father refused to eat chicken, lots of vegatables and cauliflower with cheese sauce, and of course of Sundays there would always be pudding.

Then after lunch, we would wash the dishes, clean up the kitchen and have the famous Sunday afernoon sleep (SMK). My father in winter (if the sun was shining) would take the paper, get into his car, roll the car half way down the drive-way into the sun and inevitably go to sleep. If it was really cold he would move his chair infront of the fire place and go to sleep, normally with his pipe dangling out of his mouth.

In summer he would just go out to the veranda and fall asleep ... he was always sleeping, but then at his age he needed it especially having a hectic job and 3 young girls to bring up.

The 60's and 70's

From what I rember we grew up in a middle class family, lived in a middle class area and went to Goverment schools in the South of Johannesburg.

Father Kemp was not often around as he was out working on construction sights, so would either leave very early in the morning and get home just in time for supper (before we went to bed).

On week-ends my mom would always take us to the matinee at the Bioscope or "bug house" as my father would refer to it as. And thinking back now it really was a "bug house", do you even remember that you could smoke in the movie houses in those days, there was an ashtray behind each chair.

So Saturday morning was spent grocery shopping and then Saturday afternoon at the bug house. Most times my father would also work on a Saturday and if he wasn't working he would be out doing other things, banking - oh yes I remember going with my dad, on the last Saturday of each month into town to do his banking. We would get all dressed up to go into town, then he would take us for breakfast as a little coffee shop in Loveday street, round the corner from the Barclays Bank in Commissioner street where he had his account.

I remember those Saturday so clearly as we were never ever taken out to eat, and this was the one and only time we ever went into a restaurant. I would normally have a cup of weak coffee and anchovy toast, this was my big treat. On my birthday I remember my dad letting me have bacon and a fried egg.

SCHOOL

Primary school wasn't so bad although I always hated school, I started grade 1 at the tender age of 5 and a half at the school down the road called "The Hill Extension Primary School", when having to fill in forms about our parents, my mothers date of birth was December 1924 and my fathers was always written down as the 6th of September, 1914. In those days the 6th of September was a public holiday as it was Settlers day - The day Jan Van Riebeck arrived at the cape. (My South African history leaves a lot to be desired).

So according to the 1914 birthdate my father would have been 49/50 when I was born and not the under stated 48 although not too far off the mark.

Who is my Father? Who am I?

This is a question my sisters and I have probably been asking especially in the last 20 years.

My Father 

According to my birth certificate my father is : Harold James Kemp
According to my birth certificate he was born in : Sydney, Australia
According to my birth certificate he was 48 years of age when I was born.

This all becomes very interesting, however before I delve into who he was, let me tell you a bit about "our family".

ME

I was born in Durban, Kwazulu Natal in 1964, I had 2 sisters, one 6 years older than me the other 22 months. My parents had moved down to Durban from Johannesburg in 1963 after my father who had a construction company, had been offered some kind of deal down in Durban, after selling up his company and moving down to Durban, the deal never worked out and he lost all his money.

After I was born, they moved back to Johannesburg in the September, all I know was it snowed as my father had 8mm movies that he would film and we watched these in later year. I have no idea where they are now.