I read these words from my heart at Beauty’s funeral on November 17, 2012. Many thanks goes to my zulu teacher and friend Girlie for help with translation into Zulu:

Ngiyanibingelela egameni lenkosi yethu uJesu.

I greet you all in the name of Jesus.

Mngane wami ungisize ukubhala ngesizulu. Ngizama ukufunda isiszulu. Ngikhuluma kancane. Angikhulumi Sesotho!

Ngithanda ukubingelela ngesizulu. Sanibona. Ninjani? The idea is when I greet you, I see you and you are still alive. I acknowledge that you are here before me. Also, I like to greet in Sesotho. Dumelang. O phela jwang?

I don’t know the exact translation of the Sesotho ” O phela jwang”, but I am wondering if it has the same idea of asking, “Are you alive? Are you surviving?”

I think it is a great question. Are you alive? Are you surviving? In zulu I would respond, “Ngiyaphila, I am alive.” And then in seSotho, the response is “Ke phela hantle!” I am living well.

I like these greetings because they remind me to be thankful for the gift of life, to live well.

Into engiyikhumbulayo ngoBeauty ukuthi wayathanda ukuphila.

The one thing that I remember about Beauty was that she wanted to live. She did not want to die. She wanted to stay on this earth for as long as she could and care for her children. She loved to live and have fun and laugh. She wanted a house and a car… Actually she wanted a Land Rover.

Waye ngathandi ukudlula emhlabeni. Kodwa engakufunda ukuthi kuhle ukuphila.
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Beauty taught me that it is good to want to live. We have been blessed with life. It is a gift of God. We should fight to stay alive no matter what we face. We should not give up if we have HIV, or cancer. We can still live.

Kuyisibusiso ukuphila. Unkulunkulu usiphe impilo.

Life doesn’t always turnout the way we want. Yet we must still live. We must still remember that it is a gift to be alive.

Noma sigula sifanele ukuthisiphile. UBeauty wangifundisa ukuthi ujabule noma usezinhlungwini.

It was not easy for Beauty to live with HIV and then to battle cancer. Yet she never gave up. She believed in life. Even when her body was in pain, she still was able to laugh and have joy. I learned so much about joy through watching Beauty face her pain. She inspired me to live with courage no matter what my life may look like.

Wangifundisa ukuthi uphile nalokho unkulunkulu akuphekhona. Kunfanele sonke sikuthazeke ukuphila impilo esipiweyon.

The great hope that we have is that Beauty has gone from living this life with us, to living a new life with Jesus. She is experiencing even greater joy now. She has a new home that Jesus has built her in heaven.

Still she has left her mark on us and we are to live out her legacy. To Beauty’s children, never forget that your mom lived with joy and that her joy will be in our hearts always. Live as she did, with courage and determination to face your biggest struggles and your deepest pain. Live with joy.

I thank God for having her in my life. She was a true gift and I will cherish every moment that I had with her here on this earth. And I look forward to that day when I die when she will greet me in heaven and say, “Dumela Kerry. O phela jwang?” And I will say, “Ke phela hantle.”

Lala ngokuthula Beauty. Sohlala sikukhumbula. Hamba khale mgane wami.