We met at a friend's house party. I, Jaco, came out of a 4 year relationship and created a motto " Single 'till I die". (I was married before.). That evening when I walked through the door, Joe said to someone sitting next to him : I am in trouble, I am going to marry this man. Joe was not openly gay at the time.
We started dating and I said to him, I never want to marry again, so we will have to date for the rest of our lives...last famous words. We started dating in Jan 2020 and moved in together on 1 March 2020. On 26 March 2020 Covid lockdown hit the country and we were confined as a new couple to each others presence. It was a big learning curve for both of us, as Joe was never married before. In 2021 Joe mentioned that, seeing that both his parents passed away, he has found in me a new family in my parents and my three children and two grandchildren. I decided that I will give him the opportunity to belong to a new family, and on 21 May 2021 at Lake Panic, Kruger National Park I popped the question. In November of 2021 we decided to get married and decided on the 24th of September 2022, as to have a public holiday on our anniversary.
We are both nature lovers and one of our favourite spots in the world is Kruger National park. before we went there in May 2021, Joe said that if I can raise R8000 for a 600mm lens, he will pay the rest in order for us to buy a lens that we wanted. I did it in a couple of weeks, and we bought a 600mm. We took it for the first time to Kruger in May. I have decided to propose in our favourite place to him. Our youngest son joined us on the trip. He kept the rings with him and when we arrived at Lake Panic near Skukuza, he handed me the rings. I pretended to be taking photos of the wildlife at the lake, but has put Joe's ring inside the cap of the lens. I wrote a note: "Ag toe man, trou met my asb." (Ag please, marry me please). I stuck it on the inside of the lens. He was busy watching the birds through the binoculars, when I said to him that I suspect there is something wrong with the lens and he should have a look from the other side if something was blocking the way. Needless to say he did not expect a thing and was overwhelmed. He started crying, we hugged, made our commitments and the rest is history. People who joined us in the hide were very happy for us.
