We had just finished our group game competition and the mandatory walk to our seats is in order. As I strolled towards my table, there she was - the definition of feminine beauty at its physical form sitting on my seat. ON.MY.SEAT. How do I react to that? I didn't. As I finally reached my table, my workmate, her sister, asked if it was okay she take my seat so they can sit together. I found myself sitting right across the table from her. Naturally, the next thing I found was me stealing glances at this gem in front of me. As a shy guy, my game plan was to discreetly find a way to get next to her and talk to her...so I did what I felt will work for me. I kept standing up and waiting for someone to take my seat then I would take the seat that gets me closer to her and repeat the process. Fate must have been on my side that night because after an hour or so, I finally got the seat next to her. Now comes the hardest part, the actual talking! "This band is great!", I mumbled. She responded with two nods, as if not wanting to say a word. "Look at you sister go dancing, I didn't know she could dance like that!" I blurted out while smiling. She gave a tight lipped smile while giving me another couple nods. At this point, it appears she wasn't interested in having a conversation with me and my pessimism kicked in. Is there something on my teeth? Did the food I eat have too much garlic? Did I sweat too much from standing and changing seats? Months later, she would eventually tell me she was too shy to talk to me as well! But during that moment, my instincts told me to get out of there as fast as I can. Luckily, my colleagues decided to have a group photo taken and she decided to take one. Soon, most of us decided to go home and so I bid her goodbye while she was 20 feet away from me and while she had her back turned to me. 😆
The following day, I wasted no time campaigning myself to her sister, who I now know is named Joyce. I would campaign myself for the next weeks. One fine day, Joyce's sister would use her personal email address to inform me something about the project we were working on. This opened up a direct communication between Joyce and myself. A few days later, we we had our first date.
It wasn't long before I realized I was daring a special lady. I asked the nerve-wracking question a few months after dating and whew! was I glad she said yes! We got married the year we met, that's right - we were so sure of each other we vowed to love each other in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better or for worse till death do us part in the same year we met.
As soon as we married, we were undecided whether to have our honeymoon or plan for a child. A month after we got married, Joyce told me she was carrying our first baby and that decided it. We were going to have a child first and travel as a family when he grows up a bit.
My father named his children Kingsley, Queenielou, Princeton, and Dukeneil. A cool naming concept that I wanted to continue and so I looked at the dictionary and found this word
czar
noun | /zär/
an emperor of Russia before 1917.
"Czar Nicholas II"
It was then we decided to name our child as so. Czar was way too excited to stay in his mother's womb and force his way out two months before his scheduled birth. His first 24 hour in this world was the scariest emotional roller coaster ride of all emotions in my life. His mother was feeling excellent for a mother who had just given a Caesarean delivery. Czar however, had difficulty breathing due to his insufficiently developed lungs. He was admitted to the Newborn-ICU, needed a breathing apparatus to breath and may require surgery for a chance to live a long life if he cannot breath without a support after two to three days. I remember begging the doctor to do everything she can to keep my son alive at all costs with wet eyes. I must have spent two hours just standing over my boy, muttering words of comfort, combing through his his hair and holding his hand hoping my son would feel the emotion from my voice as the doctors and nurses were binding his limbs, injecting him and installing a breathing apparatus on him. He would eventually fall asleep with injection in his feet, breathing apparatus on his mouth and a monitor on his chest saying everything was normal - I finally breathed a sigh of relief. After another hour of standing guard, I was confident he would be alright for the remainder of the night. I now had to march back to our room in case my wife would come back from the OR and inform him of the good and bad news of our newfound joy.
My wife and I have woken up just hours after the parturition, my entire family and I experienced a miracle. Our prayers were answered within a proverbial New York minute. My premature son was brought out from the NICU without the need for surgery, not even needing to see what a scalpel looks like. Up to this day, there is no better feeling than knowing my son will have a long life.
Two years later, Czar shows no sign of asthma whatsoever. He runs around, dances blissfully, innocent of the dire situation he was in two years ago.
The fact that Czar is now a toddler means I now have more time on my hands. It was now time to end the war with what's left of my obesity. Now I've been watching what I have been eating all this time but proper diet just wasn't enough. I had to move my body and sweat. Having personally dealt with asthma, I know basketball is the perfect exercise gain cardiovascular strength and lose weight at the same time. I looked for peers who were also looking for regular pick-up games. Coincidentally, my company recently decided to frequently host basketball tournaments as well.
However, it was clear playing full games regularly would take a toll on my body. I had sprained my ankle, strained my back, and even needed a laboratory test to confirm I did not develop umbilical hernia. It was obvious I was having frequent injuries however, the progress on my weight loss was undeniable. I'm still overweight but I had lost 10 lbs in three months - a good start for a full time working father. At this point, I've learned to let my body rest when it feels something but hopefully I will reach a point where I will be able to undertake physical activities everyday.
I decided to request an ultrasound test to see my progress. To my delight, I only had one comment left on my results. A far improvement from my last ultrasound test. I'm scheduled to have by blood chemistry test sometime this week.
That's my life for the most part! Hopefully, you all enjoyed it and I wish to see you again on this innovative platform!
If you haven't read the first part of this story, click or tap here to read it:
Story of My Life|My Own memoirs on Steemit
If you like this story, go ahead and upvote, resteem and follow to be updated with my posts! Shout out to 
