There I was fidgeting nervously and wondering why I had allowed myself to be convinced by my cousin, to come along to a wedding of one of her close friends. It wasn’t like I didn’t like the idea of marriage, in fact ever since I can remember; I have always fantasized about that day I would be standing at the altar with Mr. Right. But sometimes reality is stronger than fantasy, and all the hopes I had of finding that one guy that would make me happy, was more or less non-existent. I would sit up all night asking myself, “Why at the age of 34, was I still not married?” I mean I have the familiar proverbial case of an attractive career woman, who despite having all the qualifications that are supposedly meant to make it easier to come across one’s lifetime partner, including a nurturing attitude and a longing desire towards having kids and settling down, is still somehow single. I would only rack my brain all night, wondering where I was going wrong and why I still couldn’t find that one guy that would be right for me, despite all the numerous dates that I had been on.
On such dates, I would encounter all the strangest men out there, it was like I was holding an audition to find the most unromantic and unqualified man for the position, or maybe I was being too picky? This was happening so frequently that I eventually stopped going on dates and decided that maybe I wasn’t just cut out for marriage; with all the stories you hear of people getting married in full public spectacle only for it to end the next day, informing my decision.
So eventually I stopped, I convinced myself that I was better off being by myself, even though nothing would have made me as finding the right man. So I tagged along with my cousin to her friend’s wedding, all the way telling her how I thought it wasn’t the best idea for me to be reminded of my own inability to get married. My cousin’s persistence paid off, the bride and groom were beautifully dressed and looked really happy, and that touched the side of me that always wanted to get married. All through the wedding I was really anxious to leave but my cousin kept her eye on me so I had no choice but to stay.
Eventually, I was able to sneak away from my vigilant cousin, and found a quiet balcony at the top of the church. To my surprise, I wasn’t the only one there, a finely built man with the body and looks of a god was right in front of me, he gave a smile and I couldn’t help but blush and giggle. He approached me and I could feel my heart beating and adrenaline rushing through my body as I was fighting hard to compose myself. He explained his story to me and he was in a similar situation as mine, and explained how he wasn’t attending the wedding by choice so he decided to sneak to the balcony so that he could have some alone time. And that was it; we bonded and before long, were getting to know each other. We both decided to head back to the ceremony so that we didn’t appear rude; I was still thinking about this fine gentleman when not long after, it was time for the tossing of the bouquet.
I had seen that part many times on TV and in person, and even though marriage was at the top of the list for my agenda, I was a bit cynical about the idea and found it very cliché, probably because I wasn’t the one doing the throwing, so I tried to stay away from it. In a funny twist of fate even though I was nowhere near were the bouquet action was taking place, my new friend at the balcony caught the roses and came over to hand them to me, and asked me if I would like to go for dinner. It was like a dream and I found myself speechless, while the guests and my cousin watched in amazement as this confident and handsome man was approaching me with those roses, it was one of the most romantic things that had ever happened to me. After that day, we went on a couple more dates and got to know each other, and two months after that he proposed, just like that! It was almost a dream that I keep pinching myself to wake up from, and we’ve been married for the past 3 years, and things have been so good that I can’t imagine it being any other way!