Remembrance Day, on Nov. 11, is more than just a statutory holiday for many people, including me. On this day, I remember my brother, Evert, who died in 1994, and my first boyfriend, Ignatius (Natie) Greeff, both of whom were in the Army during the South Africa Border War and the People’s War or War for Liberation. These armed conflicts lasted for decades and only ended in the early 1990s. We grew up in South Africa with fighting as a constant – almost normal – reality. As example of this is the first present that Natie gave me – it wasn’t flowers or a signet ring, but two spent rifle cartridges mounted on the ends of an aiguillette, to be worn as a necklace under my school uniform.
While I was thinking of them last week, I looked up Natie on FB, only to learn that he had died in 2023, unexpectedly at age 64. We had started dating in my final year of high school, and were a couple for about five years. In the first photos of us together he is wearing his step-out uniform. He became the leading expert in military history in South Africa, and later emigrated to Austria with his wife, Petra.
A typical love story
First loves are usually highly emotional and end in heartbreak. Ours did too, but I remember him fondly, if sadly, because he bought me my first guitar, which I still have today. That is what makes our story a little unusual, because it wasn’t until many years after we had lost contact that I learned how to play it. And now of course, it’s part of the music that I write.
A song for the boy next door
So I wrote a song about this little love story, which is a pretty typical love story, and a typical portrait of the young men of my generation, growing up in a country torn apart by war.
This is the demo version. It is currently in production so it will not sound like this or have these lyrics, once it’s done. It is after all meant to be a song, not a diary entry.
The french Guitar
Yes, it is me and him in the photos in the video. He was such a handsome guy, and so sweet.