12-18pm
The Grand finale…of how I met Mike…
Phoning Mike to ask him to come to a wedding with me, took quite a lot of courage. When I asked him to go to Betty’s Bay, he had said ‘no.’ I didn’t know why at the time, so phoning him for the wedding invite was nerve-wracking. If he said ‘no’ I would know for sure, he actually wasn’t interested in me. I phoned him and asked him, my heart pounding in my chest. He said, ‘YES!’ As I thought back to that date, I knew our relationship was not quite off the ground because I DROVE! It wouldn’t be long before the role of driver would change. The wedding was great. After the service there were a couple of hours before the reception, so we went to a restaurant and had a cup of coffee. I remember feeling so happy that I had a date and that I wasn’t at this wedding alone. Funnily enough, a year or two back, the couple who got married that day told me they had seen us on their wedding video. I would love to see that one day!
Mike & I got to know each other a bit better at the wedding. In fact, he may even have driven me home. My car was the one I had bought from Philip. The only thing was that I hadn’t yet paid for it. It was a very loose arrangement. We had settled on an amount and he generously said, ‘pay me when you can.’ Since returning from my Zimbabwe trip, I had started saving. I was 20 and was putting money away each month towards paying off the car. He had said, when I had the whole amount to let him know and we would organise how to get it to him. Several months of saving had accrued and I was a couple of months away from my 21st birthday. Before remeeting Mike, I began to think it would be nice to celebrate my 21st with family. I had no family in Cape Town. I wouldn’t have too much of a 21st if I stayed in the city, so I began to concoct a plan. Maybe I could take some of the car savings and fly to Zimbabwe for my birthday. I wrote to Philip, asking him if he would mind. It would delay the payment, but I promised him, the car would be paid for. I didn’t hear back from Philip for a long time. By the time his letter finally came, Mike and I had been to the wedding and things were heading in the direction of a relationship. So much so that after the wedding, he phoned me and asked me if I would like to go to a church social with him. I said yes. When he came to pick me up, I had just received Philip’s reply. It was heavy on my mind. Philip had said that if I went to Zimbabwe for my 21st, he knew I would never pay for the car. He said, I have to make it my first priority to pay him back. I was quite shocked. You can imagine the first thought that went through my mind was ‘after all he did to me!’ On the way to the church dinner, I told Mike about letter and asked him his opinion. To my utter chagrin, Mike agreed with Philip!! He too said the most important thing was to pay off the car. I really respected Mike for that. Here was a man who was willing to stand up for what was right and he wasn’t saying something just to please me. For that reason, I scrapped the Zimbabwe plan and whatever happened I would celebrate my 21st birthday in Cape Town.
I was still staying at Somerset Hospital Nurses Home and Mike and I were seeing more and more of each other. When I arrived home, my friend and neighbour Ann would say, ‘has he kissed you yet?’ The answer inevitably was ‘no.’ She asked me this question so many times, always quite amazed that we hadn’t kissed! Finally, in September of 1985, our friendship blossomed into courtship.
Helga walked up the door and opened the path, said her pyjamas and put on her prayers, turned off the door and climbed in the light, all because Mike kissed her goodnight!
On 5th November I celebrated my 21st at a dinner and dance at Constantia Neck Restaurant just with 2 other friends. Good memories also of another special evening not far from there at Hout Bay’s Suikerbossie Restaurant. In December, I went to East London to meet Mike’s parents. They liked me! Their son was 34 and not yet married. If they considered me too young, they said nothing. They were delighted that he had at last found someone. Who found who is what counts here. Mike told me he started praying for a wife when he was 13. I think the Lord heard that prayer and said, “Hmm, he’s special…let’s see what’s in production…He spotted me and said, ‘she’s the one! I’ll grow her for him!'” 8 months later I was born & the growing began. I think Mike would have liked to have not waited quite so long, but the wait was worth it.
We had loads of friends rally round and help us plan the wedding. A rainy Saturday 9th August 1986, we got married and lived happily ever after.
Psalm 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.
God bless you loads!
In His Grip
Helga xx 🙂
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