I met Rets in my first year at Stellenbosch University back in 2015. We immediately connected over our love for good movies (new and old), being a little extra and our mutual lack of preparation for exams. Throughout our time at university Rets helped me grow as a person, putting many aspects of my life into the necessary perspective needed for me to be able to cope.
Rets has also been the most amazingly kind human a friend could ask for, often treating me to snacks or meals when the budget was tight or giving me random gifts just out of the blue as a token of our friendship.
On the 11th of June 2017, Rets met Hernus. I knew she had decided that he was the one when in the December of that year she asked if I would, one day, be one of her bridesmaids. This is an honour for anyone but being a guy, I thought she was joking because I had never heard of a male bridesmaid before. Despite this I knew that I would go to the ends of the Earth to be at her wedding one day and without wanting to create an issue around her request, I told her that I would love to be her bridesmaid one day.
In the midst of my final year of studies, I received a job offer overseas, it is a dream first job for a starting teacher and for someone with a passion for travel, I knew this would not be an opportunity to pass up. So in August of this year I will be moving to start my 2 year contract overseas before returning home.
A few months after receiving my job offer, Rets’ boyfriend, Hernus, proposed and I received the ecstatic update as well as a request for me to turn the hypothetical into the real and be a male bridesmaid at the wedding. I was shocked to think that she was being serious and I knew I wanted to spend the day with them but I also knew I would be overseas for the next 2 years.
This is where my need to create this campaign started (The Lotto was my other option and has thus far not yielded positive results). I leave in August and the wedding is in October. Even on a foreign teacher’s salary, 2 months is not long enough to save up money to buy tickets and my interim jobs at the moment are just enough to get me by until I leave.
The timing is perfect as the wedding falls on the weekend of the school’s mid-term break. Giving me enough time to fly to Cape Town participate in the festivities and fly out without having to ask for leave in my first few months of a new job.
At this point, ticket prices plus car hire seem to be averaging around R20 000. I have put my target at 15 000 just because I will be able to save up enough for the extra R5 000 plus then buy a wedding gift and cover my living costs whilst I am back.
I really hope you can help me make it back to the country for her special day! It would be such an honour to be able to watch my friend start this unbelievably exciting new chapter of her life. Rets has had such an influence on my adult life and I really hope to be able to repay all the kindness that she has shown me and not miss out on her dream day.
Thanking you in advance for any donations.
