Weddings bells have been ringing more than usual lately. It definitely seems like it’s a year made for weddings. You know at least two people who are getting married in a matter of weeks or months. You most likely know more than two people who are about to get married. And you might be feeling a bit left out or alone, even though you’re in a stable relationship. You shouldn’t feel that way because everything good happens in its time. Marriage isn’t something you should rush into without being sure of your feelings, your emotions and choice in a life partner.

Let me tell you a short story. This happened to a friend.

“Winnie served as a Youth Corps member in Bayelsa state, Nigeria in 2014 where she met DJ. DJ was one of the numerous Youth Corps members just like her who had come to serve their Motherland but they were just friends. Nothing more, nothing less.

After the compulsory one year Youth Service, Winnie moves back to Lagos and gets on with her life. 2 years pass and then she gets a call from DJ, who currently lives in Delta state. DJ says he’d be in Lagos and would love to meet her. Winnie says OK but that she’d be coming from work. DJ offers to wait for her at a well-known junction in Egbeda, Lagos. When she gets there, she discovers him with his bags and is surprised. They greet each other and decide to have an early dinner at a restaurant.

After eating, she discovers that he didn’t come to Lagos on business but came to see her. Then he says,

“Winnie, if I ask you to marry me, will you marry me?”

In surprise and shock, she begins to laugh and asks if he is serious. He says yes and affirms that is why he came”.

If you were Winnie, what would you do?

“Winnie leaves the restaurant after telling him she would think about it and goes home. DJ, meanwhile stays in Lagos for a month after that day but she refuses to have any contact with him. When she finally picks up his call, she says she still needs time to think about it.

Winnie, before DJ’s first call, had been and still is in a relationship with Tony, whom she’s been dating since she left college. Tony is settled, handsome and caring but he seems not ready to propose to her. They also fight about the littlest things. Fights that mean he doesn’t call or check up on her for days. When she calls, he doesn’t pick up. When he calls back, he says “are you ready to apologize now?” even when she doesn’t do anything wrong.

Winnie feels her clock is ticking. She’s attended 7 weddings and been a bridesmaid at 6 of those weddings in the last 2 years. She believes that Tony is taking too much time to make up his mind and that she needs to get married before she’s permanently booked on the ‘spinster shelf’.

This is why she tells DJ she’d think about his marriage proposal although she is not attracted to DJ in any way romantic.

Then Mike comes into the picture. Mike is funny, built, dresses well, and believes in fairy-tales. He seems like the perfect guy. Mike works with Winnie and has been asking her out for a year but because Winnie is dating Tony, she says no but that doesn’t deter him from sending her flowers and love notes.

A week after DJ’s unexpected proposal, Mike tells her he wants to speak with her and that it’s a matter of life and death. Winnie, worried that he’s sick or something, gets in his car and he drives her to the Island. He parks and they get down at a popular restaurant in Lekki. He escorts her into the restaurant, to a table for two. Perfect lights, perfect music, perfect dinner.

Mike begins to tell her of how much he appreciates her and how happy he’s been since he met her. And then says those words that almost every lady longs to hear;

“Will you marry me?”

Winnie wonders if she offended her ancestors or someone pretty old in her village. Every other guy apart from her boyfriend has proposed marriage to her but her boyfriend hasn’t”.

What would you do if you were Winnie?

Join the CONVERSATION HERE: https://afmobiblog./2017/06/10/an-unexpected-proposal/