How we began ... Part II

Dear Friends,

(as promised - Part II)

We lived separate lives until an email arrived in July 2003. She would be back in South Africa for her grandmother’s eightieth birthday in September 2003. We should meet. We did, at NewsCafe in Centurion, surrounded by friends and music and the ordinary noise of youth. But nothing felt ordinary. She had gone to California as a girl and returned a woman - sun-kissed, confident and radiant. I was stunned. This time, the spark did not fade.

When she returned to California weeks later, distance no longer felt optional. We spoke every day. She bought me a wall clock set for California time. I would run in the early mornings and talk to her for an hour before work, quietly collecting Telkom bills worth every cent. In April 2004 I flew to Europe to meet her, determined to bring her home. Three months later she moved in with me. Knowing her conservative family in Naboomspruit, I did not delay. We chose a vintage ruby and diamond ring at Paisley’s in Brooklyn and waited for the right moment - though she was growing impatient.

That moment came on 4 September 2004 at Debengeni Waterfall near Tzaneen. Water rushed, hearts raced, and I asked. She said yes. We drove straight to her parents’ home to ask for their blessing - and for the approval of four protective brothers. We got married three months later. Grace carried us through.

In 2007 we left South Africa. Five months later, in the Netherlands, our daughter Anne was born. Paul completed our family in 2013. We built a home far from where the story began, and in 2015 we opened KuierKos, sharing food, memory, and belonging with fellow South Africans abroad.

Looking back, our story was never a single moment. It was timing, distance, courage, and return. Above all, it was sparkle
- still there, still guiding us, all these years later.

Cheers, Andreas