So folks, there's this story I haven't written about. Perhaps, because we love to tell the story in person. It's the story of how My wife and I got engaged. Now sit, switch on that soft blues you love to listen to, and follow the ups and downs of this story.
This is how it all began. Way back in December 2011, just weeks before the engagement date, I got a friend in the UK to help in shopping for an awesome diamond engagement ring. With the aid of blackberry messenger; I was able to make the right choice. Even though - coughs- it did cost a thousand pounds of my widow's mite at the time. That said, the next phase was how the engagement itself will go.
Engagement to me is something special. The fact that it will only happen once in one's life made me think deeper on how best to make it special. I want to create a story my children will be able to tell their friends on how their mother got engaged. A story that will last for generations. I have heard of people putting rings in their spouse's food, people proposing in a place as weird as the toilet and all. Lol. I'm not about to make this a bad story, so I thought of how best to make it romantic, and the best I could come up with at the time was to propose to her at a dinner. What form it will take is what you are about to find out.
It was one solemn sunday that it all started taking form in my mind, so I buzzed a musician-friend whose stage name is Aduke. We settled on Beautiful Nubia's WhatA Feeling. She also agreed to bring along a violinist alongside her guitar and her voice. At this point, Four Point by Sheraton at Lekki was still the venue. By the way, the day for the engagement was on the first of January, 2012. Yeah, that day that the fuel scarcity began. The whole fuel scarcity Palava. We will get to how that was about to spoil my day. Lol.
So ring is ready. Musician is ready. Venue is ready. The next thing that had to exist was the backstage crew. so I thought to myself, who are those that can help me at the background, to make sure everything turns out great. I settled on two great and trusted friends since my undergraduate days - Wura Soji-George and Chidinma Nlemigbo. They were to help amongst other things with bringing the ring to the venue, getting the artistes to come in at the right time, and also taking pictures of the whole drama that will ensue during and after the engagement. Lol.
Sha, the next ultimate thing was to get her to Nigeria for the engagement proper without her knowing what was about to hit her. She was abroad at the time. She had always said that I lack the ability to surprise. That I am as open as a book. Okay o, Hayaf hear. As if me coming to meet her at the airport with red rose flowers and kneeling down to present them to her while the whole airport crowd were blushing was something she could have thought I would do. If she thinks that was predictable, well, this won't be.
So that I won't give up the secret, I decided I will propose to her the day she lands gon gon. Which was the first of January, 2012. Except from the fact that, it's an excellent way to start the year, my own hidden agenda about that day, was so that I will never miss our anniversaries. Yes o, with the first of the month, one can never go wrong. That's Engagement Date 101 tip.
Early that morning, I drove to the airport, picked her up, and dropped her at her sister's house at Magodo. After having dropped her, I spoke to her sister and her sister's husband about taking her out for dinner that evening. And the only reservation they had was the venue. That Four Points by Sheraton, Lekki was too far away from Magodo. That why don't I do the dinner at Sheraton which is close by. I agreed to Sheraton immediately before more reservations erupt.
But in my mind while I was driving back to the Island, I was thinking of the calls to make to everyone concerned. I called my friends and made them know of the change in plans. Sheraton Hotel at Ikeja is the new location. They agreed immediately. How best can one be blessed.
To make the day special and yet not revealing an agenda, I had to wear something simple and also special. Well, that was easy for me. I love sweatshirts, and she had gotten me one in the past. So as the time drew near, I put on my jeans, nice sneakers, white round neck shirt and my grey v-neck sweatshirt did justice to my simple but special look.
As I drove to Magodo to pick her up, I saw that my petrol was almost down. For a jeep, one should really get fuel into the tank at that point. But the thought of what I was going to do, stole my attention. So I thought I will buy it while we head home after I would have proposed. I got to her Magodo residence and she was all dressed up. Her navy blue dress was exquisite, I would have thought she knew what was going to happen. And she had an excellent shoe to match. Her beauty that day was extraordinary as usual. With little or no make up, she was looking like she had a million dollars on. I walked her into the car, and the journey started.
As we drove down, I kept receiving calls from my surprise crew, and I kept talking in confident gibberishness. Lol. As we got to Sheraton, they said their buffet won't start until 7pm. That gave me 15 minutes at most to meet with my crew, and iron things out. I wanted them to come in at 7:15pm. So as we got in, I made her sit, and I told her that I wanted to get someone to get me petrol from one of the petrol stations around. Which was true. That's how I used one stone to kill two birds. Even though the guy couldn't get the fuel.
When the dinner started, we went down the aisles of food, and truth be told, I just full. Food no gri me chop. As in, if not for the air conditioner in there, I would probably be drenched in sweat. Lol. She asked why I don't want to eat, after all, I was the one that called for a dinner. In my mind, I'm just like - she can't understand what's about to happen. So I had to get something. Very much unlike me, I served myself something very small. Me? Small food at buffet? Meeeehn, this will never happen again. As we ate, when it was 7:10, I left for the 'toilet'. I checked on my background crew and everything was still on check. I went back to the table, and we continued to eat and chat. She was eating fine, but I was eating in slow motion.
Memories of how we met. Her virtues. Her softness. Her care. Her beauty. Her love, and everything about her just kept my head busy as I awaited the arrival of my surprise crew. 7:15pm came and went by. They didn't walk in. I was subtly worried, but then I took my mind off it. So much so that when they came in, I was also surprised. Yop, I was. I kept looking into her beautiful eyes, and thinking of our future and what it held for us. Her kindness, and how our children will have the best mother in the world. In fact, to grasp how I felt about my wife at that time, you will have to read the book I published about her, which I dedicated to her. Interestingly, I published it this day last year. It's titled Poetry of Love. It's a compilation of all the poems I ever wrote to her. *winks* That book is a year old today.
Back to Sheraton, Aduke was the first to come in. Her guitar wrapped across her neck. She was wearing a yellow shirt. She had played Beautiful Nubia's What A Feeling for about 15 seconds with the accompanied violinist before she even turned to us. When we tell people this story, my wife takes over at this point, and tells the story to the end. But as it is now, I will have to try to tell it as she would. She said when she saw them, she thought they came to raise funds for someone that was ill. And she was reaching for her purse to get them something when they walked to us. She also said as she saw me stand, and reach for my back pocket where I planned that Wura will pass me the ring; she thought I was reaching for my wallet to give them money. Money kor, money ni. I collected the ring as Usain Bolt would collect baton from Yohan Blake. And went straight on one knee. And I asked her if she will marry me, with the ring unveiled. There were like 100 different emotions on her face. Lol. I got her! she was surprised. She said YES, we hugged, kissed, and snapped pictures; whilst Aduke and her violinist friend kept singing
To our surprise, the entire crowd in Sheraton including their staffs stood up, clapped for us, and also took pictures of us. We were even offered a free buffet for sometime in future. We were celebrities for that night. My background crew took a bow and left. I am forever grateful to them. So we sat and continued to eat. Now, I was the one eating well, and she was the one eating in slow motion. Lol. In fact, she couldn't eat again. Hahahaha. At this stage, leaving was the only option we had, so we made sure everyone wasn't looking. We stood, and left for the car park, where I was stunned with her own surprise. She had gotten me a Blackberry Playbook, and an Android phone. Jeeeez, just when I thought I was winning at the surprise game. Ggggrrrhhhh!
Today is my lovely wife's birthday, and she's still that super wonderful young lady I engaged one year, seven months and sixteen days ago. In fact, she has refused to literally take off her ring, whether during her sleep or bathing time. A fit I haven't been able to achieve. Lol. Happy Birthday Love. I wish you long life and prosperity. Amin. I will always love you. Muah! My own one and only Dr. Mrs. Oreoluwa Oreshade -Mph.
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