#ThisIsMyStory I met him in college, we studied the same course and attended the same class. He was tall and handsome. A young man any lady would fall for. He was very sociable and would feel comfortable in the company of everyone in class. I never looked at him beyond that, for me he was just Modo as he was commonly known. In fact, I never even knew his real name.
It was Valentine day of 2012. I vividly remember it was on a Tuesday. As usual we attended our statistics class I sat at the front with my friend Pet and Modo was at the back. His usual sitting position. Modo called Pet but I wasn’t surprised because he was free with everyone in class. I later learnt he got my number from Pet.
After class in company of Pet, Modo and his other friend we strolled leisurely from class as we did not have any other class scheduled for the day. When we got out Modo plucked a flower from the nearby hibiscus plant and asked me to be his girlfriend. That was the beginning of a beautiful love story between me and Modo. Hadn’t mentioned we were in second year of study.
We would spend long hours together when we were not in class. We would have awesome nature walks holding hands. After all we were broke to afford outings in expensive restaurants.
We would occasionally fight but the good and happy times always overshadowed the minor fights.
We graduated in 2014 and I got engaged to Modo. That was when the trouble began. All along I knew we came from two totally different tribes and cultures. I enjoyed it and always looked forward to an intercultural marriage. I had even learnt some basic words in his tribe and we could joke around with him. When I broke the news to my kinsmen about my engagement to Modo the first question was, what tribe is he from?
My parents couldn’t hear anything about their daughter, a fresh graduate with a promising future getting married to someone from another tribe. They told me that people from my tribe don’t ‘see eye to eye’ with people from Modo’s tribe.
They categorically said that if I went on with plans to get married to Modo they would disown me. My dreams were shattered. My hopes came crumbling down. Would I fight for my love or my family???
I chose my family, the greatest mistake of my life. Three years down the line, I have a job and a single mother to a son I bore with a married man. What is so good about that???!
My Modo couldn’t handle the intensity of the heartbreak. He took to drinking and smoking. I can’t bring myself to even look at him. His brother told me he keeps calling my name even in his sleep. He says all his life went down the drain when I cancelled our engagement. He is addicted heavily to drugs, He can’t work and entirely depends on his family to cater for his needs and drugs. They all blame me for who he turned out to be.
My conscience isn’t at peace.
We should never let tribal differences come between a beautiful story. It is the same blood that flows in our veins. We breathe the same oxygen. We live in the same country and even use the same currency!!! If you are a parent allow your children make their own choices. You will not be with them forever.
For those who are dating, please fight for your love,don’t let people define who you are. If only I was married to Modo…
PS: #ThisIsMyStoryCampaign lets you open up, anonymously, about your struggles & how you deal with them. To take part, send your story to [email protected].
#MarkMaish #TheBrokeBillionaire