Generosity of Spirit – Heide and Michael Block

Lily and I had an invitation to stay at the home of Heide and Michael Block during our time in Johannesburg. In fact, Lily stayed there even when I went down to Cape Town. I knew Heide from her reputation amongst the students of the More To Life program in Johannesburg, from her participation on teams, and more fully, during her involvement in the MTL Coaching courses (she's an excellent coach!). Her brother Michael, I knew nothing about – didn't even know she had a brother.

As a friend of mine once said, "You always land with your butt in the butter." This time was no exception – and this butter was organic, herbed butter – delicious. Their home is generous in space, esthetically gracious, and welcoming of others – both small and large groups. Lily and I had our own bedrooms, bathrooms en suite. To top it off, it turns out that Michael is a chef with his own catering business – the food we gorged on – mmmmwah (read: divine – especially his sushi cake and special sauce – out of this world; oh, and his tiramisu; oh, and his yogurt chocolate cake; oh, and his oreo-cookie home-made ice-cream … you get the pic!).

Best of all was the easy camaraderie between the four us (Lily, Heide, Michael, me), as well as with their staff of 4 – Ishmael, Agnes, Rosie and Lot. Heide and Michael were always busy, as were each of their staff members. Yet they always had time to help us sort out electronic issues (Michael), rides to places (Heide, Franki Baker, Wendy Hendler, Ray Perkel), directions to their home, questions about a myriad of subjects, working in their commercial kitchen (which was also under reconstruction and typically very busy) … and on it went.

Their generosity of spirit was endless. I feel humbled by the extent to which they made themselves  available to us in the midst of their normal, full lives. I feel a much deeper connection with Heide as she generously shared her dreams and hopes – trusting herself with me. With Michael, it was as if I had known him my whole life. I felt protected, cared for and upheld by him – plus we discovered we have the same sense of humor. As I said – organic, herbed butter – and lots of it!

And here I am, benefitting from their generosity of spirit …..

All pictures are compliments of Lily Parish – photographer extraordinaire. You can click on any of them to make them bigger.