I have much to say about my dad, but not yet. It is still very painful and I have not had a chance yet to grieve properly as this week was very, very busy. Where our family will miss him so dearly and would long still yearn for his precious conversations, he was also, and overwhelmingly so, missed and recognised in the most beautiful and loving way by his colleagues and friends this week. His funeral on Friday was formal and peaceful and I will still talk about that as there is MUCH to tell. However what carved its way to my heart and brought much emotion and closure and beauty was the memorial service held by his old department, Land Affairs and Agriculture, which was held on Thursday in Parliament. When I sat down, someone came round and mentioned to my most gracious host, Minister Joemat-Pettersson, that the "comrades would like to sing freedom songs". And I didn't even give her a chance to answer and just said, please, sing. And as the singing started the tears came, and the Minister had to give me tissues as I forgot mine, and if you listen to this SABC clip you will understand why. I will try and get hold of the whole service on video as it is by far the most precious memory this week brought.

This morning I said goodbye to my house guests, my wonderful aunt and twin cousins, and flew to Joh'burg where I rented a car and drove down to Potchefstroom, where I will do two weeks of Physiology practicals. My one tyre burst halfway, but in minutes a wonderful gentleman and his wife stopped and helped me change it. And now I'm here. When the plane started moving this morning, I finally found my grief surfacing and I have cried, properly, for the first time since Monday's tears of shock, and it's been like that the whole day really. I am so thankful for all the closure given to me this week as these tears can now only be for the loss and the missing and the wish that I had more time, but knowing that there is much peace to be found in that his life work was done, and always so with dignity and honesty and integrity. And in between all the work he did, he left so many memories with so many people with his enormous knowledge which he always shared in the most memorable conversations and debates, and his wonderful stories which he could tell with so much sharp wit and a wonderful engaging manner and his true care and unwavering determination in his task to help right the wrongs of the past by reaching out to those that needed it most.

And this is all I am going to say for a while about my dad.

I can not think of a more appropriate way to spend the next two weeks, engaged in learning and broadening my knowledge, as that was something he was just always doing and he would have loved to have heard about it. He would have probably spent half an hour talking about how Potchefstroom was founded and the stories behind the town. I think as time goes by, this is what I will miss the most: knowing I can call him up and ask him about anything under the sun, and he would probably know about it, in detail, and be able to make an interesting conversation about it. And see, there I go again. As I said, I have much to say about him.

But for now, I'll blog about the stuff we are dissecting in class, whenever I have a moment. It is going to be really cool.