His Notes: Our story started in early 2012. I was travelling from home to Tembisa when fate stepped in completely. I started chatting with a beautiful Wits student from Lebowakgomo. What began as a simple "Hi" sparked a flame, and we ended up talking all the way into Monday afternoon. I was completely hooked. I remember asking her, "What will it take to meet you?" She told me to come to Braamfontein. I honestly thought I would be left standing on a random street corner. Instead, she welcomed me right into her room. We sat and talked the whole afternoon away. When I said goodbye, I knew I was leaving a piece of my heart behind. On the rest of my journey to Tembisa, I just knew. I thought to myself: she is the one. Now I need to win her heart. Her birthday was a few weeks later, so I planned a big date at Nelson Mandela Square. The Gautrain was brand new back then. She had never used it and had never been to Sandton. I thought, good shot, let me set the standard high. I wanted to show her how much she deserved to be cherished. And look at us now. We became inseparable and started planning our whole lives together. Then, two years later, our precious Neo arrived, and our world changed forever. There was no turning back. We became a family, and our bond has only grown deeper every single day.

It was a random Sunday, the 29th of January 2012. I was standing at Mohlapa Garage waiting for my sister when I received a Facebook message from someone I did not know. No mutual friends, no context. Just: "Hi." What intrigued me was the directness. Usually you would get chancers flooding your inbox with tired lines. This was different. I responded, and I was hooked on my phone for three days straight. He told me he loved me the following day. The day after that, I told him I loved him too. Mind you, all of this was over text. I had never seen his face or heard his voice. After we exchanged our very confident and probably silly "I love yous", he asked for my number. That was the first time we actually heard each other's voices. I had to cook up a story for my parents so I could return to Braamfontein earlier than planned. When he asked where we should meet, I did not know what to say. I had never been on a proper date. All I could think was that he should come to where I stayed. At least I would be in control of the situation rather than meeting a stranger somewhere unfamiliar. When we met, we clicked immediately, the same way we had over that first "Hi". He felt like someone I had known forever. Before he left, he said to me: "There is nothing I will do or say today that I will not do or say in five years' time." It was bold. And it was so reassuring. He came back the following day. And the next. And the next. That is when I knew I had found my person: someone who does not get tired of my presence, who makes every effort to always be where I am. Sometimes he would come over and we would have nothing to say to each other. But the silence was healthy. It was not uncertain. It was not loud. It was peaceful, like: I like you even when all you can offer is breath. He gave me so many firsts and has been consistent in a way that is rare. Ours was never a loud, irrational love. It was just love. Old, simple love. We did not start as friends or try to see where things would go. We were decisive from the beginning. We were lovers. And that "Hi", sent without gimmicks, is exactly how simply yet profoundly he has shown up in my life ever since. He showed up as himself. And that is why, to this day, he remains the steady, firm man who still does and says the same things he said 14 years ago. Still waters run deep, indeed.