The moment I knew: I heard her beautiful laugh again, and all my emotions came flooding back

3 hours ago 5

I met Jennifer at a Guy Sebastian concert in Kuala Lumpur in 2005. It was strange I was there because I’m kind of anti-pop music, but we were introduced there by a mutual friend. We didn’t talk that much but I immediately liked Jen and invited her to dinner the following week.

That first date wasn’t in a fancy restaurant and we sat in the corner and talked for over an hour. I liked that she wasn’t at all bothered by the simplicity of the dining room. Being a foreigner in Malaysia, I immediately felt with Jen that there wasn’t as much of a culture gap as I’d felt with others. I could talk to her easily and was struck by her warmth and openness. And it was there that I first heard her laugh beaming out across the room, a pure, joyous sound.

A few weeks later I organised a weekend getaway to Kuantan with my friend Ivan, who had introduced us, and invited Jen along. I remember she was sort of jumping into the waves and fell backwards, and I caught her in my arms. I didn’t let go immediately and then I felt her hand on my shoulder, and then I heard that laugh again. It was a moment of unexpected intimacy that didn’t feel forced or contrived – almost as if nature pushed us towards each other.

Eddie Botha and Jennifer in Malaysia in 2006.

After that trip she went away with a girlfriend of hers to Bali and I thought maybe that was the end of things for us. Partly because her friend was a bit butch, I really wondered for a moment whether maybe they had gotten together on that trip – which of course I would have accepted.

Then one day I was just getting home from work when, out of the blue, I saw her name appear on my phone. I was a bit surprised but very excited – we hadn’t spoken for two or three weeks. I hadn’t known I was going to hear from her again.

She told me she’d had a wonderful trip away and had been thinking about me a lot. I expressed how happy I was to hear from her; that I had been thinking about her a lot as well and would love to see her again soon. In my nervousness I made some silly jokes. When I heard her beautiful, pure laugh again, and all my emotions came flooding back, I was certain she was the one for me. It was only a short call but it was enough to tell me everything I needed to know.

After that we started spending more time together and would speak to each other on the phone for hours in the evenings. She stayed over at my place a few times.

I knew Jen was always worried about how any guy would deal with meeting her eccentric father. When I met him, he was very flamboyant – brightly coloured clothes with lots of jewellery and bling. But I really liked him because I’m a bit eccentric myself.

After three or four months, I asked Jen to marry me. She said no at first. She was only 21 at the time and I was 30. But a few months later, as we spent even more time together, she finally said yes, with her dad’s approval.

Eddie Botha and Jennifer with their children in Melbourne, 2026.

We’ve been together for almost 20 years now, have two kids and live in Melbourne. Not to say we haven’t had any troubles. I’m the risk-taker and she’s very risk-averse. I think she is the voice of reason whereas I shoot from the hip. But I think she generally trusts my instincts. We have a healthy, balanced relationship.

I love that she’s always believed in me as an artist. When we met in Malaysia I was working as a landscape architect. When we moved to Australia that fell to the wayside, so she encouraged me to venture more into the arts. She brings her business sense to my arts career.

I admire her career as a CFO for a software company – I’ve had to let go of my old-fashioned instinct that the man should be the bread-winner. I am quite paternal and love spending more time with the kids. Our relationship is based on love and caring for each other – but I think our friendship is the real core that keeps us going. And she still has that beautiful, free flowing laugh, which brings our whole family so much joy.