F is for Family: finding my Wedderburn cousin

The Bloemfontein Wedderburn's. Nanny Ina and Grandpa Percy with their 3 sons, Uncle Ralph, my Dad John and Bruce's father, their oldest son, Uncle Bobby (Alexander)

Our grandparents, Percy and Ina Wedderburn

These last few years I have discovered my roots. It is almost as if a light was switched on in a long forgotten and dusty room. Memories like cobwebs and long forgotten stories.

I have spent many hours dipping into my mother's Wedderburn Book, getting to grips with the history of my family. 

These are a set of photos from the book, it is the Christmas of 1957, taken at Kalkwal, the family farm on the Modder River north of Bloemfontein. We would all gather and these family holidays at the farm would define both my and Bruce's childhood memories. These were happy days as the Wedderburn brothers got together with their parents and their growing families. 

Life then took its course and the family dispersed, caught up in their own lives and busyness.

Bruce and I lost touch as young adults. He moved to the UK, established his life with Cathy. I met Fred, we lived in France for a few years before returning to South Africa. We focussed on careers, businesses and raising our children.

The wonder of the internet and social media reconnected Bruce and me, and here I am, some 40 years later sitting around a table at their home in France, meeting his wife Cathy, sharing a glass of wine, reconnecting and bridging these 4 decades. Cathy and I looked at each other and wondered why we waited so long to meet.

The Wedderburn family in 1957.
Bruce and I are the little ones in the front row and we almost the same age.