My father took one hundred and thirty-two minutes to die. I counted. It happened on the Jellicoe Road. The prettiest road I’d ever seen, where trees made breezy canopies like a tunnel to Shangri-La. We were going to the ocean, hundreds of miles away, because I wanted to see the ocean and my father said that it was about time the four of us made that journey. I remember asking, 'What’s the difference between a trip and a journey?' and my father said, 'Narnie, my love, when we get there, you’ll understand, ' and that was the last thing he ever said. Melina Marchetta
About This Quote

It was the summer of 1995 when Nelson Mandela’s son Makgatho set out on a journey with his father. Mandela’s health had deteriorated so much so that he was unable to travel any longer. Yet, he knew that his son still wanted to see the ocean and so Mandela decided to take his son on one last journey with him. Makgatho, who was only 18-years-old at the time, recalled the last words his father said to him. He said, “Makgatho, my love, when we get there, you’ll understand.” His father died before they ever got there. The last words of Mr.

Mandela were just about saving Makgatho from the pain of his father’s death. “When we get there you’ll understand,” were the last words of the man who had lived through four decades of apartheid and had experienced all that South Africa had to offer. He understood that sometimes things are not as they seem and that sometimes things take time before they make sense to us.

Source: On The Jellicoe Road

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