The start of "The Affair" ...
We met one hot summer - that was the Christmas of 1971.
At times it all seems so very very long ago ... 
Ours was a
romance that started in an African seaside paradise called The Wilderness,
the honeymoon capital of Southern Africa, at a time when Colonial Africa was pristine, peaceful, prosperous and very very romantic!
Only in hindsight is it apparent that Heaven had worked all the details out for us ... and we fell in
madly love! For 3 glorious summers, our love affair
flourished ... almost unnoticed. For 49 weeks each year we lived FAR apart
(and dated others) ... all the time looking forward to those 3
glorious weeks each summer,
when we would once again meet in this idyllic honeymooner's paradise.
That was 30 years ago now and a lot has happened since those wonder-filled summers ...
Three glorious summers ...
Jennifer and I lived almost at opposite ends of the country, and we just had to
settle for the few times we did see each other ... 3 weeks each summer of 1971, 1972 and 1973.
Upon graduation from high school, I was drafted into the air force
for 1 and 1/2 years - South
Africa was at war. As a result I would likely not get to see her during all of that time.
So, for the next 2 summers that she went with her family to the Wilderness for their
annual vacation - I would not be there.
I kind of panicked ! I mean really ... In the time I was to be away at war, she was a 17 year old
absolutely gorgeous (and passionate) Mermaid, just entering Grade 12, to be followed by 1 year at University, turning 18 and 19 ... and with me
nowhere in sight ! For me then, these were not exactly great odds to be faced with in the game of love!
The "End of the Affair" ?
So, to even the odds a little,
I traveled down to Cape Town (with some money I had saved) just before my 18th birthday (which was when I was to enter into the
air force) so that I could at least
be with Jennifer one last time. Her parents let me see her for just 2 days - a weekend, during which time she showed me her home town and
we romanced each other - this time on her turf. We were, as always, Lovers, Best friends and
'Soul mates', but two days go by so very fast when you are in love !
"Bye-bye love ... Bye-bye happiness" ... perhaps
Just a few days later I was in the air force boot-camp 
in Pretoria, at the opposite end of South Africa, and it was impossible to see
her anymore - though I do remember she invited me to her Prom a few months later. That was very sweet of her, but I could not go - I was in boot-camp
and they did not let you go anywhere for any reason at all and our Love for each other did not feature in their war-time priorities.
Some lucky Navy guy (who lived close to her hometown) ended up taking her to her Prom, instead of me. Of course, next thing you know, she was dating this Navy guy.
Really, what chance did I stand ? By then I still had 15 months to go before I could even possibly hope to see her again.
I do remember that most all my air force buddies were getting "Dear John" letters as, one by one,
their sweethearts (who were mostly 18 or 19) dumped them in favor of some local guy who could be real in their lives.
I did not get a "Dear John" letter. In fact, in the next 15 months I got no letters from Jennifer at all !
"The plan" to keep the love affair going ...
I did try and call her every chance I could (not often) but it is difficult
dealing with someone you love while you know she is romantically involved with someone else. "However", I reasoned, "This was
not a new situation at all ... after all we were dating others when we first met and we did manage to meet and romance each other
subsequently for those precious 3 weeks in each of those 3 consecutive summers and also that
ever so brief but very delightful weekend before I went off to war - despite continuing to date others
seriously for the rest of each of those years". Jennifer and I just simply had enjoyed a romance with no
expectations or commitments past the 3 weeks each summer when we were together - it was just too impractical any other way.
While this, of course, is NOT acceptable in marriage (being called a Love Affair and Adultery) - it seemed to be semi-legitimate at our ages and stage of life.
After all, we were not adults so the word adultery did not seem relevant to us and besides, we were not engaged or married.
The fact is that we had always enjoyed a somewhat questionable illicit relationship and, ironically, this was to be our love's saving grace.
You see, there was no steady relationship to break up, otherwise Jennifer very likely would have broken up with me, and that would have been the end.
So, no "Dear John letter" was called for ! Then, maybe I still stood a chance ? Now all that was needed was for me to (somehow) get down to the Wilderness again, like before,
at Christmas time, when she was there on holiday with her family - away from any steady boyfriend, and then why should we not just simply resume our 'love affair' as we always had ?
If this worked then soon afterwards I would be back from war and attending the same University as her, though I would be a freshman and she a sophomore.
As long as she was not yet engaged or married ... I still stood a chance !
"The plan" starts to fall apart ...
OK, so now that you know what 'the plan' was (a long-shot to be sure) in how many ways could it possibly go wrong ?
Well, as if things could not get any worse, or the situation any bleaker,
just as my stint in the air force was coming to an end, and I was getting ready to try and meet up with Jennifer again,
the Russians (under Leonid Breshnev) using their Cuban side-kicks (under Fidel Castro) decide that with Watergate
paralyzing the USA, 1975 was a good time to invade Angola. We really had no choice. We South Africans fought against them in Angola, because we all knew that if
they were not checked, neighboring Namibia (where we were already fighting a war) was next on their list and then South Africa itself.
Those were indeed dark and desperate days. South Africa was the pariah of the world. The arms-embargo's and trade sanctions that were applied to us left us with
somewhat dated (pictured here) fighter planes 
while we were facing Russia's proxies equipped with the most modern Soviet fighter planes (such as MIG-25 Foxbats) - and we were already stretched thin fighting another war.
As a result of all of this, I nearly ended up never seeing Jennifer ever again.
Well, we did beat the Cubans and their allies back from the southern 1/3rd. of Angola and suddenly they did not seem so invincible anymore. Then, thanks to our Good Lord and with a little (inadvertent) help from the American Congress, and
some covert help from the CIA, a stalemate ensued. Just days before Christmas in 1975 (Summer holidays in South Africa) a small window of opportunity was created and there was a lull in the fighting to give the diplomats some time
to try to negotiate an end to the war - and we all know how efficient bureaucrats are, especially over Christmas ! AFB Waterkloof returned from it's noisy 24 hour a day state of war to a more normal state.
A faint ray of light shines through ...
Suddenly Christmas carols were being broadcast over the base PA system and I realized I had an opportunity to at least try to meet up with Jennifer again. I applied for a few days leave to spend Christmas day with my
family - who by now were relaxing and sunning themselves on the Wilderness beaches along the warm Indian ocean.
A dozen bottles of whisky later, I had my leave granted ! Our flight
Sergeant in charge of personnel matters loved Scotch whisky, and
I thought it a small price to pay for having this one last chance to meet with Jennifer again - even if it was a long-shot and for only a few days.
Sometimes "long-shots" pay off - BIG !
Well it worked ! I did meet Jennifer again - and in a rather miraculous way. 1 and a 1/2 years after last seeing her and some 2 years after our last Summer romance, my
Dad came to the George airport (near the Wilderness) and met me. As we were driving back ... along the road in the Wilderness next to the
beach, this time 50 yards or so ahead of us, I spotted Jennifer walking (in her bikini) beside the road - in the heat of the day.
Even from behind and after all this time I somehow just knew it was Jennifer !
Remember, we first met at Christmas in 1971 when her Dad was driving their family back from the beach, in their white Mercedes,
and they had stopped to give me a ride. Well, instead of us stopping and me asking her if she wanted a ride, I got my dad to stop and let me out.
Now with a thousand spurious thoughts filling my head and many questions ... my heart racing and with a good deal of fear, I ran up behind
her (still in my air force uniform) and put my arms around her - embracing her from behind.
My thinking was: "She has been at university, where I know she had been dating other guys for the last year, but in an instant I will know if she still
has any feelings left for me. She will either react coolly towards me or very warmly ... and my agony will be over soon enough" ! Jennifer spun around ... her face broke
out into a radiant delighted smile and she flew into my arms. We hugged excitedly, kissed passionately and ... well, the rest is history ... well almost. To passersby
these few moments must have looked intriguing. My Dad, still parked next to the road in his pickup watching all of this unfold and waiting for us two young lovers, just smiled as we walked back to meet him.
"You know where we are on the beach Son" he said, "Why don't you and Jenny just take your time ... go for a walk ... get re-acquainted and then come on down and meet with us when
you are done, and then we can all go back to Siesta and celebrate
together" ... We did!
Our "Love affair" resumes
Of course, many people have pointed out what a
funny incident it could have been if I was mistaken and that young woman walking back to the beach, dressed only in her bikini, was not Jennifer - but I just knew it was her!
Needless to say, Jennifer and I had a LOT of catching up to do - and there down in this most romantic of places,
we were soon quite comfortably back in each others arms and all that glorious catching-up began ! For the first time in our romance,
I was able to say to her: "Just hang in there Jen ... in just 2 months I will be done with the war and starting my Bsc. degree at UCT and I will be with you there at university - every day."
Jennifer had last seen me as a teenage boy, just finished high school, not yet filled out or fully mature and
just days away from going to war- ready to start serving my country in the
air force. Now I was back from those wars. I last remembered her as a
gorgeous 17 year old girl, starting grade 12, passionate and very eligible - not likely to wait around for me to
come back to her from the wars before she would allow herself to experience romance again. Now I was 20 and she 19. She was a beautiful young woman and I was a mature young man.
I had fought in not just 1 but 2 wars and in that time she had graduated from high school and had finished her 1st. year and was ready to start her 2nd. year at university.
We were now both primed to enter a completely different phase in our romance.
Our meeting again (in the place we first met) in a very similar way to which we first met, after so long
apart - during which time we had matured into young adults ... all made for a very fertile start to our adult love affair !
(CONTINUE READING
the next chapter)
Excerpts from ... 
