Last updated 2007-03-08

Lisa is my daughter, who turns 10 in April 2007. Her name is pronounced in the European way, "Leesah", with a soft "s".

The picture below was taken in 1999.

The second picture was taken in June 2002, by Vidi la Grange. Does the fact that she started off on her daddy's lap and has now progressed to a teddybear's lap say something? Perhaps it's time to invest in a good shotgun...

Unfortunately, after a cancer scare and the attendant treatment programme, her mother decided when Lisa was one year old that doing her own thing was more important than the family, and has gone her own way. After an ongoing saga of almost three years that culminated in an expensive legal battle during 2002, I finally obtained fairly regular access. Lisa typically spends every second weekend and alternate holidays with me.

Lisa attends Christ Church Preparatory School near Midrand, about 50 km from my home. She has a comfortable command of Afrikaans and English.

Our limited time together includes a lot of mutual story-telling, making music, horse-riding and swimming.

Lisa is a gifted artist. She has the ability to draw amazing pictures with apparent ease. She practices regularly and produces beautiful pictures through a range of media, including pencil, water colours, oil paint and white board markers. Most of her work shows a good grasp of shading, perspective and even atmosphere. Lest you think Daddy is having a hard time staying objective, her school teachers of the past few years are unanimous in their agreement that they have not seen anything like it. And, rest assured, it doesn't come from Daddy, as Daddy probably can't even draw a convincing horse if he tried!

More recently, Lisa has also become a competent musician. She enjoys a wide variety of music, mainly classical, and has learned to play my Steinway piano to an extent that belies her age. We've even had a few good music-making sessions together, with me playing the trumpet and her playing the piano. The thrill has to be experienced to be believed!

At one time, we even tackled a building project together. We built a doll house, using the same bricks that her daddy's house is built of. It was a lot of fun. The end product resembles her dad's house, except that pink and purple paint were lavishly used in Lisa's house. Just what my conservative constitution needs!

Lisa is mad about horses. Over the past year or so, she has had the opportunity to regularly ride an Arab mare named Conchita. They have even completed a 30 km endurance ride. Conchita belongs to a friend, who takes care of her on a regular basis, but it's hard to keep Lisa from thinking about Conchita as "her" horse. The picture shows Lisa riding Conchita while preparing for her first endurance ride, early in 2006. Lisa has now completed several 30 km endurance rides, and is looking forward to some longer ones.

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