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22 February 2003Our mutual friendship started in February 2003…Donna wrote in her journal:

“It is early Friday morning the 21st of February and Jo and I are all packed and ready to go. We wait for my daughter Debbie to come pick us up and then we stop for breakfast before she takes us to the Double Tree for the shuttle. We wait and we wait no shuttle, Deb calls twice to find out where the "Limo" is. Finally it arrives and we store our bags in the back and hop in.We reach JFK in good time and when we walked in the door the security starts…Fast work and no lines. Then its off to find the ticket counter and Rose. From a distance Jo my elder spots Rose and we finally get to meet in person.

Rose Wrote: We hugged, we laughed, we cried, and then we hugged and cried some more!

For all of us the memories will never fade.To me this Bakubung sunrise (that she captured) will forever be a reminder of our friendship…

We salute a sister …

She is now looking down to us with a smile from the other side of “God’s Window”…

This scene is known as “God’s Window”

Meal times were ideal for the group photos but we do have good memories of being out in the wild too…

Jo Wrote to her friends..“Boy, have I seen animals! We went to Bakubung(Don't you love these names?) I think I liked the zebras the best”.

The “Cow place”

A few favourite photos…

Giant’s Castle

Pool at Lalapanzi

Sabie lilies

Today we light a candle for her again …

“For dinner on Friday night we went to a very nice restaurant. (These South Africans know how to eat!) Wia informed us that we were celebrating and I did, by ordering the calamari dinner and a salad on the side. There was no way that I was going to order dessert, although the others did. When the desserts came, there was a scoop of ice cream for me with a lighted candle. And of course they insisted on singing Happy Birthday. They know that my birthday isn't for another month, but Wia said that we needed to celebrate it early. I was embarrassed, but also delighted to have them make a fuss over me.”

Patsi & Jo – No words needed…

She wrote to her friends:“Of all the places we visited, I think this was the most beautiful…

White Mountain….a very, very special place for sisters…

…the rugged mountains, …the lush green hills,

…the beautiful little streams.”

I don’t have the words to describe my feelings so the pictures will have to do it..

I remember her wanting to learn Afrikaans… She also wrote:

The custom of saying "My pleasure" (Afrikaans-Dis 'n plesier.) instead of "You're Welcome." And sounding as if they really mean it!

The sisters met again during Patsi’s visit to the USA

Donna: "She was my mentor, my ventor and my FRIEND,I have missed her dearly over the past year or so, since we not only chatted with the sisters but also at other times and then it all stopped.I wanted to visit her but she asked me not to come out, then I wanted to call and she said no it was too hard so our time together was ended other than via short emails. Her sense of humor, her spunk, and her get up and go attitude were an inspiration to me and got me through some of those self pity times.She will be missed by us and by many of her friends.

Rose:“I know this is what she wanted, but I can't help but cry bitter tears remembering how she suffered. She fought the good fight and I certainly was enriched by her friendship. We have lost a good friend, and a wonderful multifaceted human being.

At one point during our visit to SA we shared a room and exchanged confidences as if we had known each other for years. She was so empathetic and understanding, we truly bonded..

Jo was wise, creative, pretty and witty. She had a delightful and sometimes acerbic sense of humor. Jo was a gal who would tell it as it is and wasn't afraid to pull any punches if it was something she felt strongly about.

Jo was also very creative. Some of her poetry was put to music and is available on tape.

I admired her intelligence, was enriched by her friendship, and inspired by her courage.

I am sure the angels are smiling now that she is in their midst…

MalisaI cannot cry for Jo as she let me know that she was ready to go home and was in so much pain. I really feel that Jo would rather have us beat drums and singsongs of joyous passing... having a parade if you will as an escort forher soul passing into the promised land.

Malisa:I share in this memory... and it brings a smile as I so enjoyed beingwith Jo in Palm Springs and later on the East Coast.

Patsi:“This is prophetic.....Jo lives on, rejoicing that pain is past and peace reigns.

As I have explained this to the others - this was taken in Malisa'sand my room in Palm Springs. Jo was a bit hypoglycaemic and needed to keep her body fuelled with constant small quantities of food. Breakfast, for her, was indeed a 'break fast', after which she felt alive and properly functioning again, hence the comment.

From our dear friend Dawn Cirrito…I AM SO SORRY AT THE LOSS OF OUR DEAR FRIEND JO. I KNOW FOR ALL OF YOU IT IS MUCH HARDER FOR YOU KNEW HER LONGER BUT I LOVED THE TIME WE SPENT IN PS. WE LAUGHED SO HARD AT SO MANY THINGS. THE ART GALLEY TOGETHER HER AND I WAS THE BEST WHEN WE TOURED THE JUNK GALLERY SECTION.

I DO REJOIC E IN THAT GOD’S GLORIOUS WISDOM AND OUR KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF TELLS ME THAT JO IS NOW AT PEACE. FREE AS I TOLD DONNA , GOD GOT A ANGEL TODAY.

HERE IS A PIC I HAVE OF HER IN OUR ROOM IN PS HUGGING PIGLET.

I TRULY LOVED JO. WE SENT MANY EMAILS TALKING ABOUT LIFE AND GOD TOGETHER.

I BET SHE IS ALREADY SWIMMING AND PLAYING BASKETBALL. THE HEAVENS ARE MOVING FOR SURE TONIGHT! WHAT A BLESSED THOUGHT!

LOVE TO YOU ALL AND MAY GOD TOUCH YOUR HEART AND HEAL YOUR PAIN.

Oh, I want so much again to dunk a special home-made rusk in hot coffee,In pleasant company.I want the busy-ness and cameraderie of breakfast being prepared -freshfruit, cereal, breads,And of course, marmite, for the discerning. Cheeses, too! Possibly ham.

I want to see again the faces of two red-heads, sun-drenched with freckles,Eyes dancing with the pure adventure of it.(What's 'it'? Ask them! )The fresh and fair complexion of an egte boeremeisie. Loved.A mass of crisp and natural curls above the widest smile that anybody,Anywhere, ever envisaged. And a nature to go with it.(That's a fact.... ask anyone who has looked upon the photos.) I

I want again to take a pride in showing off people and places which I havecome to loveTo people whom I have come to love.I want to watch my friend glorying in doing the same, with her people, herplaces.What blessedness, to share .Giant's Castle, to take an instance, magnifies itself four times overWhen looked at through the eyes of four other watchers... possiblyworshipers.Or so it is for me.

We said our good byes in 2003 (Patsi again later in the USA) but this is our first farewell..

I want to conclude with a poem that Patsi wrote after the sisters went home in 2003..

What more can we desire than the friendship of sisters that wil last forever……

Patsi continues…

I HAVE...All the above.Time may be the elusive fourth dimension, and because it exists, for thepresent,We have memories.Because the marvels of photography exist, we have light-pictures which willnever fade.Because someone chose to share with us this miracle, we are swept up andincluded.Because words exist and typify us as human, there areWord recordings of what happened,Encoded for as long as the internet IS.As long as script is.

I have it all.I do not have to want.

Patsi

May our sister rest in Peace.Caress her memory by

remembering how we hugged and laughed and even sometimes cried…

we will never forget..

Compiled with love by Wia - May 2011You are welcome to share this slide show with

whoever loved and respected Joanne Gunnerson