WEDDING SPECIAL

OUR STORY

We first met in Calabar (2006) in front of my father's house in the University Quarters. My parents were lecturers at that time, though retired now.

Uche and a couple of her friends came to pick Almond fruits(ebelebo as popularly called in Benin) in our front yard and that was the fateful day we met. I picked up a few handfuls for her and this single gesture gained me instant likeness on her part.

We didn't see each other again until a year later on Ifeoma's birthday(Uche's elder sister), my friend and I agreed to take all the three(3)sisters for a night out together. Well, as far as I can remember, it didn't go so well but it ended on a happy note.

The First Kiss

Our first kiss was in her friend's room where they were putting up at the time due to some issues with their crib, she was folding some clothes she had just washed and I volunteered to help out and then, there was a blackout so we had to rely on a candle to light the room - she was too irresistible under the circumstances so I kissed her, and damning all the consequences. Her reaction, a total shock.

She hid herself in the wardrobe and asked me to leave. I was stubborn and refused, asking her to come out of the wardrobe or else I'll come give her another, jokingly though. She refused and insisted I left at once, I had no other play so I left- confused but happy(I had at least shown her how I felt about her).

It wasn't until several days later that we saw again and she was like Fort Knox- totally guarded. She wasn't giving me any  chance to be close to her, not even in the slightest way. This to me was totally understandable so I respected her and kept my distance- her presence was enough. Eventually she let her guard down seeing I was trustworthy, this was when our friendship blossomed.

The Beginning of Us.

I wish I could say things were rosy after that but they weren't, I was Worldly and not a believer back then so my life was full of uncertainty and trouble. This was what I exposed Uche to and she suffered in no small measure the returns of a life without Jesus with me. She tried in vain to change me but I refused to see life from her Christian point of view- it was impossible.

So for seven(7) long years we were in and out of the relationship: breaking up and making up but never engaged in Premarital Sex. In the seventh(7th) year of our strained relationship, God arrested me and showed me what she had been talking about for all those years - THE WAY.

I was truly happy for the first time in my life because of two(2) things: Firstly, I was Born Again and Secondly, I was still with her. Yet still, I wish I could say it was rosy after that but again it wasn't. Temptation(s) came in waves and torrents tearing my faith apart and rendering me doubtful of my very new found Truth. Even convincing Uche I was different was a challenge, not to talk of the people in my life.

The Proposal

The day came that I was to propose to her and guess what, we quarrelled. So right there on one of the streets in the ancient city of Benin, I got down on one knee damning all consequences again and asked her to marry me!

I expected something but not an outright "YES". So after that happened the ball was set in motion and I could not back down now. My life with Uche was going to start in a new and beautiful light like never before, my Dad and uncle came for the Introduction Ceremony and the rest as they say is history. Uche and I always used to have severe quarrels that always got settled with me coming all the way to Benin from Calabar and later Port-Harcourt. It was really a hard fought battle to gain her trust because I always managed to do the wrong thing(s).

Seven(7) months after the Introduction, we tied the knot in front of the World and then I had real peace. My main asset was my consistency(not my words but hers), that and the Grace of God were the two(2) things that brought me my "Untouched and Pure Bride". In the end, I'd do it all over again because she is totally worth it and so much more.

If there was ever a word to describe what love is to me, I'd say love is consistency. At least that was what worked for me and that's how she knew I was for real...

A love relationship that was meant to be despite all. Congratulations dear ones, may your union be so fruitful. Amen!