“I met my hubby in the year 2005, July to be precise. He came to Lagos to start working, so he had to put up with his cousin first. His cousin’s home was right in front of my mum’s shop then. His cousin was close to us – he spent most his time in our shop. So when his cousin came to Lagos, he came along with him and introduced him to my mom.
“Mummy, this is my brother, he will be staying with me for a while till he gets his own accommodation.” That was the first time I saw him. From then, whenever he came back from work, he would come outside and enjoy his evening.”

My hubby is a reserved guy, he doesn’t talk too much, always minding his business still, he kept coming around to the shop every day. Eventually, he asked me out and after much thought, I gave in. The funniest part of this story was my mum. She suspected something was going on between us – people had started to tell her things. She called me several times and asked me questions but I denied ever having anything him. I did that because I was still a young lady, had not got admission into the higher institution then. You know, in that kind of situation, people will say, you are too young to have a boyfriend.

One morning, my mom told me that she wanted to borrow some cash from him and that she was going to ask him in the evening when he returned from work. I found it strange that my mum would borrow money from someone, especially from a guy. I tried to convince her in so many ways but she insisted that she needed the cash, so I said ok o o. When he came in the evening, my mum called him aside and they started discussing. Right in the middle of their discussion, my mum called me. She asked me again for the last time if there was anything going on between me and him. Still, I denied. What I didn’t know was that that my hubby had bared it all about our relationship.

When I found out what had happened, I was scared of what my mum would do next. My mother made her decision after further interrogating him and to my greatest surprise, she gave her blessings.

While he was still asking me out, he made it clear that what he wanted was a wife and not a girlfriend. I told him, then, I was too young for that kind of commitment. I look back to that time and I remain grateful to God that I made the right choice. Despite so many ups and downs, we made it to where we are today. He proposed in 2006 and we got married December 2013.

Over the years, I have learned that when you love someone, you should be truthful to them and not hide anything. One thing that has really worked for me on this love-marital journey is to always consult my husband before taking crucial steps. Loving and being with my husband has taught me to be independent and be able to truly discover who I am. Despite several arguments we had during our courtship, we came this far because we never gave up. Really, love is sweet when you share it with someone you truly love. For me, it feels like I met my man just the other day.”

[END]