When Mark August's young wife died giving birth to twins he thought he would have to raise the boys alone, writes Cape Argus assistant editor Jade Otto.
Cape Town – January will never be the same for Mark August who two years ago lost his teenage sweetheart Tarryn August after she gave birth to their twin boys.
The couple, who met about two decades ago, dated for nine years before getting married and having their first child, Daniel.
But on January 10, 2015, Mark was faced with the stark reality that he would have to raise Daniel and newborns, Joshua and Israel, on his own.
The boys had been born a week earlier and shortly after the delivery Tarryn kissed them on their foreheads. “That was the last and the only time she saw them,” Mark said.
Tarryn August, 31, died two years ago.
“At that point tears came down her eyes and she said she had seen heaven twice. I asked her ‘are you sure?’, she had a subtle smile on her face and she repeated that she had seen heaven twice.
“We believe she had an encounter with God.”
For a week, a call went out on social media for people to pray for Tarryn’s full recovery. “People from all around the world came together to pray for her. Our phones never stopped ringing, messages of support started streaming in. People prayed in the hospital every night”.
Mark faced the contrast of spending time at his ailing wife’s bedside to standing in awe of his twin boys’ arrival at Louis Leipoldt Hospital.
“I was in between two glories. We had the happy part where the boys were on the fourth floor and then where Tarryn was on the third floor. From complete happiness on the one floor to complete sadness on the other. And I didn’t understand why this was happening."
Mark August and his wife Alana in their Brackenfell home. The couple are raising twin boys, Joshua and Isreal, and first born Daniel after Mark’s first wife and Alana’s sister, Tarryn, died after giving birth to the twins on January 3, 2015. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane
“It was a massive shock to me, to our families, what was I going to tell the boys one day? How am I going to survive raising the boys? All those things went through my mind."
“It was terrifying, I thought how am I going to live now? But it was only through God’s grace that kept me going and the support around me.”
Some 5 000 people attended Tarryn’s funeral and some were turned away. “For me to see that, the support made me stand up in my point of weakness.”
Tarryn’s sister Alana August (nee Benjamin) described her sister as her best friend. “She was this bubbly person, she was always healthy, always friendly, never sad and even though she went into ICU we always had hope that she would recover."
“Losing a sister is like losing another part of you. We were the same heartbeat. Every day we used to contact each other. From complete closeness to the fact that she was gone within a week, I couldn’t grasp it. It was very hard, I was very angry. It was hard to accept.”
As time went on, Mark said another woman was the furthest from his mind.
But being the spiritual family they are, they recognised prophecies that went out, people had visions and dreams.
Daniel dreamt Alana was to be his new mother. “Daniel said he had a dream about Tarryn and he said Alana is going to be my new mommy. I asked are you sure? I didn’t take it too seriously,” said Mark.
Mark and Alana August on their wedding day
Speaking from their Brackenfell home, Alana said even on the day of the funeral a woman told Alana and Tarryn’s mother, Ruth, that Mark and Alana would get married.
“My dad also said this is a normal thing when the one sister passes away you go to the next offspring. But my dad doesn’t remember saying this, but I had to confirm this with my friend. At the time we just ignored it,” added Alana.
Mark and Alana continued to spend time together and developed a romantic attraction.
Reflecting, Mark said on December 24, 2014, Tarryn asked if he would ever get married again to which he responded no.
“But she said if anything happens to me make sure the boys would be loved like I love them. A year later I started to have feelings for Alana, I was very scared, why am I having feelings for Tarryn’s sister? And we found love from nowhere. It was the last thing we expected.”
They got engaged last year and were married on December 6.
Mark and Alana August
“A lot was taken from me, but God has given me back more and double. The best part for me since we got married is to have a family for my boys, to look up to a mother."
“We keep Tarryn’s legacy alive, we show the boys pictures of her. We never exclude her.”
As Tarryn’s moto was “smile, it confuses your enemies”, Alana adopted the phrase #lovealways.
“I’ve always had this thing that the world lacks love and the only way we are going to show them what love is, is to be the love. No matter where you come from, your background, your age, your race, having love, things can change. For me, to be this love to Mark and the boys is like this word is coming to fruition. We’ve learnt to appreciate things in life cause it can go away in a split second."
“We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds the future.”
The couple are now living day by day and are not closed off to the idea of extending their family. “Now I love Alana and the boys on a total different level,” added Mark.