My Mitchell’s Plain Cousin’s Matric Ball
Just to add some closure to my Mitchell’s Plain cousin’s matric ball story, I thought I would add a (hopefully) final update.
On Monday 5 October my mother, my sister and I were amongst a host of people invited to my aunty’s house to see my cousin off to his matric ball.
Wow, but things have changed a WHOLE lot since our matric balls back in the day.
For my matric ball I dragged my friend with me, told him to wear something that would match my dress and pick me up at a certain time.
My cousin’s matric ball was a whole other story.
The limo driver parked in the road a whole hour before the time, while my cousin got ready.
When we arrived in Mitchell’s Plain the house was already packed with family members and neighbours. My aunty was looking a bit emotional and my cousin was nowhere to be seen.
She said he came home from school and announced that he would not be going to the matric ball. I might have previously mentioned that my cousin is a bit (to say the least) shy.
Some of us had feared that this might happen.
My mother, being the reasonable one in our family, went into his room and a few minutes later the two of them appeared – my cousin looking surprisingly handsome in his suit, waistcoat and cravat.
A few tears were shed when my aunty saw her baby boy in the doorway.
She said something like: “You look just like your father now.” (That’s a whole other story!)
The girl – who another cousin organised – arrived looking pretty in a burnt orange dress that perfectly matched his waistcoat.
Pictures were taken with cellphones, digital cameras and even a video camera or two.
If you didn’t know better you’d think it was a movie premiere.
(How did matric balls gets like this?)
My Mitchell’s Plain aunty again shed a few tears while serving cakes and tea to her guests.
At exactly 8.00pm my cousin and his date left for his matric ball.
It was a huge relief, but also an unexpectedly proud moment. I almost shed a tear or two myself.
Our boy has grown up!
My mom called Tuesday evening to say that my cousin had a good time at his matric ball. And that’s all we could ask for.
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