My dad Photo by Matilda Angus I have had very few reasons in my life to feel proud of my dad. One being his truly beautiful singing voice. I loved standing next to him during church services and hear him take the tenor confidently and with the greatest of ease. In different circumstances he could have made it in the music world. But mostly, our lives were ruled by my father’s struggle with his demons: an inferiority complex and a terribly short temper. Looking back, I honestly don’t know whether we moved so many times because Dad was trying to better our lives with better positions and a better income, or whether he got into another scrap with his superiors and decided to move on. Yet for all his shortcomings, I now know he tried his utmost to provide for his family and he was a trustworthy employee. Also, he raised us the best he could on principles he believed in based on his strict religious views. But these things don’t stir up pride in a child or teenager’s heart.
The Restory is a Retreat Centre nestled against Tafelkop, a singular mountain head near Wakkerstroom, South Africa. Here we live a simple life as contemplatives. It is a place of re-connection: with ourselves, people, Nature, Silence and Creativity. Our retreats are aimed at this. Our conversations, writing and art centre around the univocity of life. We need a place that reminds us that we are all one. The Restory hopes to be such a place and space.