Museum News: Autographs

One morning whilst going through drawers and cupboards that haven’t been opened in years, I discovered an old autograph book from the 1890’s. When Jonathan arrived, I show-ed it to him.

Working together, sharing the work load, the funny and difficult situations of our kind of job, we paged through this old, precious book and discovered the most beautiful poems and drawings. We read through poems written by well known residents of Prince Albert, like Dr. John Mearns, district surgeon from 1879 to 1901. Jonathan looked up and said: “I think you should write about this autograph book when you do your next article for the paper.” At that stage I didn’t think much of it, and for heaven’s sake, what could I possibly have to say about an old book with lovely poems and pen sketches from years gone by?

Now, everything has changed! After his fall, Jonathan was hospitalised for a week. He never regained consciousness, and passed away. We are all in a state of shock. Phones are ringing, sad and worried friends come and go, and when I sat down to take a breather, I noticed the autograph book lying on my desk.

I then realised that, right now, the whole museum is like an “autograph” of Jonathan. Everywhere I look, everywhere I go, there’s a reminder of him: The good laughs we had, he and Virna eating toffees while they did the minutes from the previous Board Meeting, the chats on the stoep with visitors, helping me with my computer problems, or handing out information about our town that he loved so dearly.
Jonathan was a “walking encyclopaedia” and we could ask him anything about Prince Albert, he always had an answer ready.

In memory of Jonathan, I would like to share some of the old poems with you.

LIVE TODAY
Make a little fence of trust
Around today;
Fill the space with loving work,
And therein stay.
Look not through the sheltering bar
Upon tomorrow;
God will help thee bear
What comes,
Of joy or sorrow.
(L. Hugo 1890)

The End of a Perfect Day
O would some power thee give us
To see ourselves as others see us,
It would from many blunder free us
(J.M. Helman, 1910)

Jonathan was forever correcting my English, and as a tribute to him, my article this month is in English. Thank you, Jonathan, you were a good teacher.

Museum greetings
Debbie Badenhorst