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For decades her 200 puppets were an important part of her life, so it broke Beatrice van Niekerk's heart that she would have to give them all away.
The 85-year-old had no choice – she was moving from her home in Lake Brenton on the Garden Route to a retirement complex in Sedgefield and there simply wasn't space for them.
YOU previously reported on how sad Beatrice was at the prospect of having to give away all her puppets, which she regards as her children.
It wasn't an easy decision to make but the pensioner can take comfort from the fact that she's found a good home for her beloved puppets in the Northern Cape after a long and exhaustive countrywide search.
When she announced she was giving them away, she had two conditions: that they must go to someone who will use them to enrich children's lives and that the new owner must collect all the puppets from her at her home near Knysna.
She received lots of calls from people who were interested but nobody seemed quite right – until she recently got a call from someone from her past.
When a man named Jan de Klerk phoned it brought back a lot of memories as he is the brother of a girl that Beatrice – an ex school teacher – taught in Grade 1.
He let her know that his daughter would be willing to travel all the way from the Northern Cape to collect the puppets, Beatrice tells us.
READ MORE| Her 200 puppets all hold a special place in her heart - but now it's time to give them all away
"She is a music teacher in Kathu near Kuruman and has already made two puppets for herself, which she uses in a theatre at the school where she teaches."
Although she will soon be giving them away, her puppets will always hold a special place in Beatrice's heart.
After she and her husband, Jarie, retired as teachers, they continued to present puppet shows in the Knysna vicinity and arts festivals.
They were getting ready for another arts festival in 2020 when the pandemic struck and then Jarie died of lung cancer later that year. Their puppet theatre company, Jarebé, hasn’t performed since.
Now Beatrice hopes someone else will be able to bring her puppets back to life.
"I just got the feeling that Jan's daughter was going to be the right person. She is still young and adventurous," she says.
"I've talked to her on the phone a few times now and she's very, very excited to come get the dolls.
"She and her sister are going to come with a pickup truck this Saturday and pick them up here at my house."
Yes, it will be sad to say goodbye to her puppets after more than 50 years.
"But to everything comes but an end," she says.
