King David Schools’ kindred spirits

MIRAH LANGER

Franklin and Jean Gaylis

“I remember seeing her upstairs outside her classroom. I was on the field. She caught my attention.”

So says Franklin Gaylis about the time, in 1971, when he first saw his wife, Jean. She was 14 and Franklin 16. They have now been together for 47 years.

“When our eyes connected, that moment… was beshert [preordained],” he reflects.

Jean also feels that they both knew from the start it was real love: “It was official from day one.”

However, she confesses that the first meeting was a little more strategically orchestrated than pure chance.

“I had obviously noticed Franklin way before. Franklin was a water polo player. I noticed that on the billboard, one of the students had taken a number of photographs from swimming galas and water polo matches.

“There was a black and white photograph of Franklin wearing his water polo cap. I actually went to the student who took the photograph and asked him if I could buy it – he gave it to me…

“I held onto that picture for a long time before we actually met.”

Jean says that while she was not a shy person, the social norms of the time were such that it “was not pasik [acceptable] for a 14-year-old girl to approach a 16-year-old boy. Girls were modest.”

As such, the day Franklin gazed up to the corridor of her class was a lucky encounter.

Franklin soon heard that he “might have a chance” with Jean.

“I was impressed. She was the balaboste [like the queen bee] of her grade.

“I invited her out on a date. We went to overs [hanging out] at a friend’s house.”

Throughout school and into their tertiary studies, the couple were inseparable.

The day that Franklin got his medical-school results – he is now a urological surgeon in San Diego where the couple are based – he decided it was time to propose.

“I went to the bank and cleared R590, which was my Barmitzvah money.”

With his precious savings, Franklin bought a diamond, and went to Jean’s house.

He found her sunbathing by the pool – and it was here that he proposed.

Together ever since, they now have two children and a grandson.

Reflecting on a love that started with a water polo photograph, Franklin suggests that he is not even entirely certain if this was the last photograph which Jean sought from the budding student cameraman.

“I think later she commissioned the guy to take more photographs of me. I have got another photograph of me at school, just walking around, totally oblivious.”

At this memory, the couple start to giggle.

Lance and Talya Kier

A mock auction at a Grade 8 orientation braai at Linksfield brought Talya and Lance Kier together.

“The guy prefects auctioned off Lance, who was a matric [Grade 12] prefect, to the Grade 8 girls. A whole group of us won the bid,” says Talya of their meeting in 2004.

Not yet entirely au fait with high-school humour, the girls took their winning seriously.

The next day, “We went to find him in the auditorium after prayers to give him the money.”

Lance said he was bemused.

“I said, “Guys, it’s not for real; you don’t have to bring the money.”

However, Talya was still hopeful:

“He always remembers that some little blonde girl piped up at the back of the room, and said, ‘Well, I would pay anything for you!’” she recounts of her bolshy move.

“I just laughed. I thought, wow, she has chutzpah,” laughs Lance.

In February, Lance “crossed grade lines” to wish Talya a happy birthday.

“He gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and that was the biggest thing in the world!”

Later, at an orientation weekend, Talya seized an opportunity to get his digits.

During one of their conversations, Lance went away for a moment.

“He left his cellphone on the chair, and I quickly phoned myself, then deleted the call on his phone.”

That night, Talya messaged him to say goodnight.

Fourteen years down the line, the conversation between the two, now husband and wife and parents to a baby girl, has never ceased.

Lance attributes the strength of their bond to having literally grown up together.

“The nice thing is that because we started from the beginning, Talya saw me for who I am… We’ve gone from being kids to adults together.”

Kevin and Jodee Shaftoe

“Greased lightning” struck Jodee and Kevin Shaftoe when they both participated in Victory Park’s production of the musical in 2001.

“While Kev was on the sound and light team, I ran the projectors and had to dress like a Rydell High school cheerleader,” reminisces Jodee.

“We both had feelings for each other, but nothing happened until the play was over, and we kissed at the after party!”

After that, they were “official”.

“Kev used my locker to keep his siddur and tefillin in, so every morning after prayers, we would meet back at the locker, and then Kev would walk me to my first class – hand in hand.”

That connection has lasted long beyond the “summer days” of school into marriage, and now parenthood.

“Our two girls will be at King David Sandton soon for primary school,” says Jodee, pointing out their ongoing affiliation with the King David School community.

Saul and Elinor Sassoon

The first time Elinor heard about Saul, she was not entirely convinced that he was a promising prospect.

“I remember being in Morah Sassoon’s Hebrew class, and her mentioning that she also had a son in Form 1 [Grade 8].

“I thought that he must be the biggest nerd!”

However, by Grade 11, they had begun hanging out within a group of friends, and soon there was a spark.

Their first official public appearance together?

Saul came as Elinor’s date to her father’s secretary’s 40th birthday!

They even shared a kiss that night.

Yet, it was not all smooth sailing.

“The rest of the story goes that after that night, he kind of ignored me.”

In matric [Grade 12], though, they began spending time together again.

“By the end of the year, someone said to him, “Listen, if you kiss her again, she is your girlfriend.”

“So he kissed me again.”

The couple got married in 2005, and now have three daughters.

Elinor says that the success of King David romances like theirs can be attributed to a community connection.

“It is a place of possibility, of adventure, of fun, and meeting people with similar backgrounds and values. It is a safe place to grow.”

Craig and Barbie Mark

When Barbie and Craig Mark first met at a swimming gala at Linksfield in 1984, they immediately got into a fight.

“I gave him a mouthful about how immature he was, and that he should be singing war cries and not being silly,” says Barbie.

“He just laughed at me, and said he was older than me.” In fact, Craig was in Grade 10, while Barbie was a Grade 9.

Over the next few months, this fiery start turned into a friendship – and more…

“We always used to say we were ‘going out’, and put up our index fingers like inverted commas.”

“Then, the day before his birthday, he said, ‘How would you like to get rid of these [indicating the inverted commas]?’”

Barbie agreed to edit their punctuation.

Because they were in different classes, “We used to synchronise our watches and ask to go to the toilet. We would run behind the prefabs, and meet up with each other.”

Thirty five years later, Barbie says “Craig is my soulmate without question. I realised this when I was thirteen.”

“He is the oxygen for me.”