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Morné alerted authorities, who started
to investigate. Police were unable to find
any record of Miché’s birth at Retreat
Hospital, where Levona claimed she’d
delivered her. The DNA tests proved that
Miché was indeed Zephany, and she met
Celeste for the first time that day.
Life has been a roller-coaster ride since
then but through it all Michael has been
her rock, Miché says. Not only does he
support her and the kids financially but
he babysits whenever she needs time to
herself or visits friends.
He’s also demonstrated unwavering
love and devotion to both her and Levo-
na ever since the bomb dropped.
“There was something strange about
that day,” Miché recalls. “My mom and
I travelled together on public transport
to the train station. Then she went to
work and I went to school. [But as we
went our separate ways] she kept looking
back at me. I said, ‘Bye, Mommy.’ She
said, ‘I’ll see you later.’
“Later that day, I was in maths class
when the principal came in and said,
‘Solomon, come – and bring your bag.’
All the kids wanted to know what was
going on.”
Miché doesn’t stop smiling as she’s tell-
ing the story, but her eyes betray a deep
sadness. “The moment they told me I
was the stolen baby, something hap-
pened to me. It’s hard to explain – some-
thing went dark inside me and I couldn’t
talk. I don’t know if it was shock.”
TheywaitedalldayfortheDNA re-
sults.“ThatnightI crieda lot.I knewmy
lifewasn’tevergoingtobethesame.”
Whentheresultscamebackpositive,
Michéwasthrownintoturmoil.“I didn’t
realisehowbigthestorywouldbe.But
thenI sawmymom[Levona]onTVthe
nextday.Shewaswearinga scarfaround
herheadatcourt,andI wasveryupset.
Whyhadn’ttheygivenhersomething
decent to wear?”
Despite the trauma of it all, she be-
lieves there’s something spiritual and al-
most mystical about her story – similar
to a strange feeling she had when she
first met Cassidy. “I felt something I’ve
never felt before. I’m not sure if it’s be-
cause she looked like me but I felt some-
thing – a kind of protective feeling for
her. Later, she asked me if I’d felt any-
thing [when we met]. I said, ‘Yes, a weird
sensation in my chest.’
“How did it happen that Cassidy went
to that school? How can God not be in-
volved?” Then there’s the meaning of her
names – Miché and Zephany. The roots
of both mean “to conceal” or “to hide”.
“A part of me had to die so I could grow
into the full purpose of my life – that’s
part of what my name means. Some-
thing that was meant to be bad, God can
turn into something good.”A
LTHOUGH she’s keeping the
name Miché Solomon, she’s
reached the point where she
realises she’s also Zephany
Nurse.
It’s taken her a long timeto warm to her birth name because for
years she’s associated it with trouble, dis-
approval and emotional baggage.
“It’s almost like having two different
personalities in the same body,” Miché
says. “Zephany is chaos, yet it’s the truth.
Miché is calm and quiet, but a lie.
“I’m keeping the name Miché to hon-
our who I was but accepting the name
Zephany as part of my identity. This has
forced me into growing into me and be-
coming whole.”
Accepting the situation has brought a
measure of peace and she feels “truly pos-
itive and happy” now. “I think that wasthe
biggest struggle – figuring out who I
and who I was supposed to be.”
She’s even considering celebrating
her birthday on 28 April, the day
Zephany was born, instead of o
30 April, which is when Miché had her
birthday.
Being lied to about her true identit
isn’t the only deception Miché has ex
perienced. “A lot has been reveale
thatI’vebeenblindto,”shesays.
Forexample,shediscoveredtha
Sophia’s dad, whom she started datin
in high school, had been married a
along. They’re no longer in contact b
she’s still friends with Matteo’s da
even though they’ve split up.
Her relationship with Celeste r
mains troubled and they haven’t see
each other in the past four months.
“I tried,” Miché says. “I tried letti
her into my life and I tried breaki‘I didn’t realise how big the story
would be. But then I saw my mom on
TV the next day. She was wearing
a scarf around her head at court’
8 | 29 AUGUST 2019 you.co.za
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