Laura Struik, a Cape Town-based mother, has paid an emotional tribute to Theresa, the nanny who became family, after the woman died suddenly of a heart attack at their home last Saturday.
In a post shared on Instagram on October 6, 2026, Laura recalled the unlikely moment the two women first crossed paths — a rain-soaked winter evening outside a church where Laura had parked her car and returned to find the gate locked.
Flustered and unsure what to do, Laura was approached by a woman emerging from the church with a wide, warm smile. That woman was Theresa.
Theresa opens gate for Laura
She calmed Laura down and helped get the gate open, and the two fell into easy conversation. Before leaving, Laura asked for Theresa’s number. When Theresa asked why, Laura simply replied, “Time will tell.”
That evening, Laura rang her partner Leo and told him something she could not quite explain: “If we ever have children, this is the woman I want in our home.”
A year and a half later, pregnant with her daughter Stella, Laura found Theresa’s number still saved on her phone.
Theresa responds after Laura calls her
When she called, Theresa said she had always hoped to hear from her again.
Laura admitted they had no references and no real way of knowing whether Theresa had any experience with children. She hired her on instinct alone.
Theresa moved in just before Stella was born and quickly became far more than a helping hand.
How did Theresa die?
She wove herself into the rhythm of the household, loving both children as though they were her own and becoming, as Laura described her, a second mother.
“She helped us raise both our children, loved them as if they were her own and became a second mother to them,” Laura wrote in her tribute.
Then, without warning, Theresa suffered a heart attack and passed away at the family home.
Laura’s kind words paint Stella’s beautiful personality
“The woman I met by chance outside that church six years ago became one of the most important people in our lives,” Laura wrote, adding: “Our home will never feel the same without you.”
Her post, filled with grief but also deep gratitude, moved thousands of readers who encountered the tribute online.
Laura’s words painted a picture of a woman whose kindness, calm and warmth left a mark far greater than any job title could capture.
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