This real-life fairytale has no beginning and no end, but here is their story from as far back as they can remember.
Abbigail and Tyron were toddlers, ages 5 and 2, when Tyron's parents paid a visit to Abbi's parents in JHB.
Whilst the adults chatted over a braai, Abbi and Ty were in the games room and needless to say Ty was in his element with all the gaming machines especially Abbi's favorite one, I'm sure you can figure out why..
Michelle and Gill decided to check on the kids only to find Abbi and Ty arguing over HER machine. They were then taken to the lounge to watch a movie together whilst the braaing and socializing continued.
Well... Once again the two squabbled over the DVDs.... who would watch what. After the movie, the only thing to play with was the doll house, I don't need to explain how that went..
After an amazing weekend, Ty and his family left to go back home to Durban, but Ty was very sad because he had left his favorite friend behind. He had no-one to argue with and no doll house to hide in.
When Abbi and her family decided to emigrate to America, Tyron was distraught at the idea that his long- standing best girl-friend was leaving.
Being so young, they did not think they'd see each other again.
Years later, Ty's partner in crime came to SA for a visit and the reunion was planned in Ballito. Tyron was ecstatic, dressed in his nicest clothes and the best perfume he had.
Ty was in awe at how much Abbi had grown. All he could think was how beautiful she had become and OMG she had an accent. Then once again, they were faced with another goodbye when they left to go back to the USA.
In 2016 another surprise visit when Abbi and the Lotz family came to visit the van Der Walt's in Hillcrest. The two families mingled and Ty met up with Abbi at the Keg in Hillcrest. Ty had been into music for a few years at the time and he decided to write a song which was all about life and coping with hardships. Yet another goodbye was on the cards and so he named the song "Texan Tears".
In August 2022, Tyron was in Mauritius with his brother and sister-in-law, Wesley and Leandra. When he got a message to say Abbi was in town for her 21st birthday. Yes, it crossed his mind to leave early but he had interviews lined up and could not leave earlier.
After the birthday party, he got spammed with 100 messages from his Mom, Dad, and Sisters stating how gorgeous and grown-up Abbi had become and how much they suited each other. He knew all this already and couldn't wait to come back to see her.
A week later, Tyron landed back from Mauritius and set up a time to visit the Lotz family in Ballito. He felt so at home as he stepped into their house.it felt good to see them all again. Then suddenly Abbi walked into the room and was radiating beauty. He was taken aback and couldn't stop staring. They all attempted to have a civil conversation but Tyron never took his eyes off her throughout the evening.
Before leaving, Ty and Abbi exchanged numbers! Ty was in love !
Ty and Abbi met up a few times after that and loved every moment of being together....until that dreaded time for goodbyes came again.
Ty and Abbi shared their thoughts and feelings upon saying goodbye....(unbeknown to them, God had different plans).
When Ty got back home he secretly planned to be at the airport the next day to say his final goodbye... or so they thought it was final. ...
Abbi was extatic and didn't expect Ty to surprise her. They waited in lines together, holding each other like it was the last time. They hugged each other for10 minutes and then they had to let go. Ty watched as the plane lifted off and suddenly he felt empty.
That feeling of knowing life would resume to normal the next day didn't sit well with Ty, unbeknown to him neither did it for Abbi.
Ty waited up all night making sure Abbi was okay and didn't rest till she safely got home, but not even a full 24 hours of Abbi leaving, had she sent Ty a photo. He opened the photo while he was driving and gasped... almost causing an accident! It was a screenshot of a plane ticket scheduled for the very next day TO COME BACK HOME !
Ty started crying and told everyone what had just happened.
Two days later, he went back to the airport to pick her up. What a happy day that was !! They stayed at her Aunty Candy's house.
A month went by and Ty couldn't deal with the nerves any longer so he asked Abbi to officially be his girlfriend. With a very enthusiastic yes, he knew this was not only his partner in crime anymore, it was going to be his life partner.
So a few months went by of dating and abbi could not stop hinting on popping the question. I was planning on doing it in the next few months and I had told Abbi I was planning on it being in a years time maybe two, So she had absolutely no idea what was coming. Although I personally knew it was only going to be in a few months I started to wonder why the wait. We are no doubt perfect for each other and by that time we had been living together for about 2 months. So I phoned my sister and told her my plans and she helped me a lot in finding a good place to do it as well as helping me shop for the perfect props etc. I had found an amazing place in the rocks by the beach and so I went to view it and as I got there I knew! It was a done deal. This specific place was where Abbi had taken me for our 3 month dating anniversary so it was extra special. After finding this spot and realizing it was real and happening, I started plotting and planning. Just after Christmas I sat with my future in-laws and discussed a plan on how we could get our immediate family to the house after we had left so that when we get back we can celebrate. Now this was hard because we had to do it without giving away what was going on. The night before the proposal I had told Abbi I was taking her on a breakfast date early in the morning of the 31st as the last date of 2022. It was a good distraction because I had been wanting to take her on a date for at least 2 weeks before hand but it just never worked out due to our busy days with my in-laws being back in town. I told her it was a very special place and we must dress up to the max. So that morning we woke up and I called my brother and sisters to go ahead of time to help set up and show the photographer and videographer the set up and how it was going to happen. Abbi and I started getting ready and she definitely did not take “dress up” lightly as she looked so incredibly beautiful it took my breath away multiple times that morning. and off we went. Only to get a message from my sister that they were not ready yet so I started stressing haha, I stopped in the parking lot of a shopping center and told abbi that this place we were going for a date was extremely high end and we couldn’t be early or late it had to be on time. So I helped her with her eyelashes and completely messed it up on purpose to waist time and it really worked! Once we got that done and we left, we were officially on time. Or so I thought. I took a slow drive to waist more time and as slow as I drove it still wasn’t slow enough. As we arrived, Abbi saw my parents car and asked what they were doing there, I quickly responded that my dad was most probably fishing there as that’s what he loves to do. Until Abbi saw my brother and 2 sisters running behind the car and hiding haha. I think by that time she knew something was up. But luckily it was a 2 minute walk to the setup so she didn’t have enough time to think about it. We walked down a beautiful path towards a 180 degree view of the ocean. As we were walking, there were beautiful pink balloons with roses going down the stairs towards the setup in the rocks. And there it was, a moment I will never forget. Abbis eyes caught the big marry me sign and the tears started rolling. The purest moment of joy and love I had ever felt. The camera men came up to me and put a mic on my shirt and so it started. The beginning to the most beautiful relationship I had ever known!
