The Family Lasagne

In honour of her beloved virtual friend Dr Sindi van Zyl, self-confessed “lazy cook” Sam Woulidge learned to make a really good lasagne from scratch

- Sam Woulidge

What do you do when a virtual friend dies? A friend you’ve never met in real life, but for the past 10 years your engagements with one another on social media have been supportive, mutually admiring and meaningful. Your heart is sore but other than crying and dripping tears over your cracked phone screen while reading the outpourings of love for her on Twitter, there is not much else you can do.

Sindisiwe van Zyl’s death devastated both those who loved her in real life and those (all 290 700) of us who forged friendships with her over the interwebs.

I first “met” Dr Sindi van Zyl in 2011 when the Twitter bio of this doctor and health advocate caught my eye. It stated that she loved “God, Google & Woolies”. Later, I would learn that she also had a passion for Louis Vuitton “neverfulls”, popping Champagne corks at precisely 11:59 pm, Le Creuset pots, Woolies’ malva pudding with fresh vanilla custard, cookbooks, music, dresses with pockets and long Twitter threads. But mostly she loved her “husbae”, the bearded Afrikaner, Marinus, who only on the rare occasion indulged her wish to dress in matchy-matchy outfits, and her beloved children Nandi and Manie, who she affectionately referred to as her Caramellos.