Give The Girls a Buck!

I don't have Cancer. My sister doesn't have a mental illness, although sometimes I wonder.... My mom has all of her body parts in place, except for maybe the standard "getting older chest droop."  We eat healthy, we take walks, we like to spend time outdoors and indulge in a glass of red after work on the balcony overlooking the mountain. All Capetownians look at the mountain at least once a day, its standard practice. If you don't, well.... then... just go back to Joburg or something. 

Despite this, us three girls havent had it easy the last couple of years. Finances have always been tight what with Mom having to bring up us two girls on her own, retrenchments, career changes and varsity degree changes along with it. 

We down scaled hugely, took away all the little pleasures that we used to take for granted, (except the mandatory glass of red wine, wine lovers of the Cape will know that this is non-negotiable. Even if it is Tassies. Which it is. Just saying.)

Recently our apartment block was subjected to rioting in which we and the other residents fled our homes in fear, our cars were burnt to the ground, my sisters four years of study material.... gone.... just before her exams. We have found another home, its small, it's out of our budget, but still the cheapest we could find on the market in our emergency situation. The next alternative would have been to start looking in areas where I would have been subjected to getting tattoos made from sowing needles and burnt rubber tyres, and my mom would have needed a tooth extraction, but I think she's too old now to partake in passion gap parties. My sister would probably just take her beloved cat and roam the streets of Woodstock, until a hipster took her in and told her only vegans take the best pictures on their iPhones.

Added to that, my moms drop in salary, the financial implications of the move, my student loan, the struggle of finding work that pays to support three hard-working women, and just trying to keep our heads above the water, day in, and day out.

Like most families, all we want is to pay our bills, be able to put electricity into the box (even though both me and mom love candlelight, but no electricity means no nice background music, so we just sit with each other awkwardly, looking out the window) , be able to cook a meal after work, and pack a lunch box for varsity/work, put petrol in my little car, top up the bus card..... just get by!

So please help take the load off us three girls, at least until Mom gets a job in her chosen field of work, my sister becomes that eco-warrior something or other with her fancy what-what degree (alternatively she could just become a Diplomat, her degree allows for that kind of thing), and I get a raise.