Riddle me this…. What do you get when you mix an investment fund administrator and an accountant?
You give up?
Okay, let me ask you this, what do you get when you mix a very clever, handsome guy from Ravensmead and a very pretty young woman from Bishop Lavis?
You give up?
Okay, what do you… okay, okay I’ll stop now and put you out of your misery…
You get……… a……… ZOË.
And this is how I’d like to introduce you to our first featured Family of The Week.
Kyk net hoe oulik is hulle!
So, baba Zoë has only been on the planet for 2 months and already she showed the wise intuition of an old soul by remaining asleep for the entire interview I had with her parents, and only woke up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed nogal, when it was time to take her photo.
But, that’s exactly what you’d expect from their progeny. Ja man, ek weet dis ‘n groot word, maar die kinnes is baie slim, hulle sal verstaan.
So, Raymond Hofmeester was born and raised in good old Ravensmead and was head-boy of both his primary and high schools no-less. He also excelled in sports and academics. Meanwhile on the other side of town, way, way other side in Bishop Lavis, Jady Schoor was trying to make sense of being born into this crazy apartheid-affected culture of ours where sometimes we have to get through school while trying to live in one room that you share with other relatives.
Both environments came with the standard delights we’ve all been accustomed to in the form of drug and alcohol addicted gang violence, which mercifully they both were personally unafflicted with, but it certainly was an ever-present demon in their daily surrounds.
Maar, kyk hoe lyk hulle nou!
The pic really doesn’t do them justice, they are two insanely attractive people, but the overwhelming vibe you get in their presence is quiet confidence and a sense of knowing.
“Raymond is unnervingly calm, especially in a crisis, which is what I love about him, ‘cos I can be a bit fiery,” says Jady.
So, as you might have guessed, Raymond is the Investment Fund Administrator and Jady is the accountant. By their own admission their life, which is currently being lived from a high-rise apartment which they own in Bellville, is “quite comfortable.”
But what makes them special? I hear you ask. “Education is the key”, they reply in unison. “It wasn’t easy,” Jady says, “but we both worked our butts off to get through school and university.”
Raymond adds, “I really can’t stress strongly enough to people in our community reading this. Education is how you break the cycle. It opens up your mind and leads to possibilities and opportunities you would never dream of if you continued sitting around all day waiting to become the next gang-boss.”
The couple have been together for 6 years now and they describe Zoë’s recent arrival as a happy accident. “Everything has changed,” says Raymond. “But in a good way, our future plans are firmly aligned with laying the foundations for Zoë’s journey. Jady and I overcame the trappings of our humble beginnings and we embrace the family values that came with it by remaining close to our families.”
These guys are in their late 20s now and I am struck by their intuitive sense of awareness that the future belongs to the new generation, as it always has, except this time, maybe it will be with less of the baggage we’ve all inherited.
#BYOH
