20 May 2017 The Festival at St. Dunstans College
A surprise for Christiaan and his mates. The festival was for the previous weekend however due to extreme weather conditions, the event was rained out and the organizers took a decision for move it to the 20 May 2017. this was by far a good call from the organizers as the weather was glorious for a music festival.
The morning of the 20th, the sun shone bright and I called Maria to see whether our Warrior was ready for his surprise. We collected Christiaan, Charleen, his girlfriend and Myburgh from Christiaan’s home and told him we were off to watch rugby. As he is a humble 17 year old, he was happy with the “rugby” and one can only guess that he was happy to be out and about with new friendly faces.
We had a stop along the way to collect the last of the guests, Daniella Snyman, who is a leukemia survivor and who knows Christiaan.
Upon reaching the destination, The Festival and St. Dunstans College, I could then let the cat out the bag, so to speak. I informed Christiaan that he and his friends, we’re being hosted in the VIP area by the event organizers Paul Smith, Mugg n Bean Farramere, Caxton & BCT. That he would get the opportunity to see the artists in person and chillax in the VIP area where snacks and drinks were laid out for all VIP’s for the duration of the event. Mugg n Bean kindly offered the group a meal and warm drinks through out the festival too.
Once we descended on the Caxton tent for a quick photo, we left the kids to their own devices and walked around the grounds to see the various food stands and areas of interest.
By the time we found a suitable spot in the Beer tent area for over 18’s only, the music was setting the tone for the night ahead. We had a special spot whereby we could watch the world go by and observe all ages just enjoying the day. As the day wore on, more and more people poured into the event.
One of our VIP guests was doing back stage concert duty at Arbor Primary so we needed to transport her to Arbor and shoot back to the Festival. Having VIP parking was certainly a great help in facilitating the ferrying this VIP guest.
My highlight of the event was witnessing Christiaan and Charleen near the front of the stage, listening to the music and clearly very much in love. When Khan Moreby came on stage, Christiaan beckoned me to join him but, this was his day, I wanted him to be consumed by his love for music and his lovely girlfriend.
Photo attached of Charleena Dan Chirstiaan near the stage and photo of Charleen and Khan.
After the event, we took Chirstiaan and his guests back home and had a lovely discussion about the day. Myburgh and Christiaan we discussing the people, the bands, the music all while Charleen fell asleep in Christiaan’s arms.
It was during this time, we got to know Christiaan better. Such a humble soul and extremely positive about his future. He refers to his past 2 years as a place that he probably would not want to repeat however, he is rather philosophical that it changed who he is today and for the better.
Although he is still having chemo, the course will be completed by October and hopefully, the results will come back positive.
I am thrilled that we were able to offer him the opportunity to be a teenager for a day amongst a sea of teenagers and adults and just blend into the crowd without standing out as a victim of cancer.
We too, learnt something about ourselves in this process of making someone else’s day. That being selfless and kind, takes very little in changing the way the incumbent views the world. Although cupcakes change a life one cupcake at a time, I can honestly say, the Angels behind the scenes are as valuable as our world resources.
Thank you for introducing me to the world of Cupcakes and all you stand for. It was awesome to see Christiaan so happy with his friends for the day.
