November 29th, 2019. 7:15PM 34
I smile as we walk hand in hand with mum, I don’t have the best relationshipwith dad right now and even after asking him to come to my wedding he said he would think aboutit.
We get to UNZA Chapel and people have already come and are sitted in their seats. Jared is my best man, Lerato broke up with him after finding out about his cheating ways; well she already knew about them but was hoping he would change until she finally caught him in the act. I feel sorry for him because she is a good girl but hey, he kind of deserves it. Funny enough she is Thelma’s maid of honor and the two have to be civil around eachother.
‘You look nervous.’ Jared says ‘I am.’ I respond honestly
‘Don’t worry, the two of you have a good thing going.’ He says patting my shoulder
I want to shout at him because he too had a good thing but he couldn’t keep it in his pants and now his back to being a bachelor, his at the age when his friends are building houses with their significant others, at the age when friends his age are planning weddings and baby showers and paying for school fees yet here he is still playing around. But this is not the time or place so I let it slide.
I relax a bit, a bridal instrument is played as Lerato walks in with the ring bearers.I would have loved for Olivia to be present but I guess like Thelma said, we better let go of thisbattle.
She comes to sit on the opposite side and immediately From the ground upbegins to play, we all stand up because the bride is making her entrance. I almost wantto tear up as I look at her from the door, her dress is beautiful. I know I have seen wedding dresses before but not anything like she is wearing, it’s a ball gown. Her veil is very long, almost making her look magical. She has her father on one side and her second mother on the other side, they walk slowly towards me moving with the beat of themusic.
They stand half way, the music’s volume reduced. ‘Who gives this woman away?’ the minister asks ‘I do.’ The fatherresponds
I walk towards them and she is handed to me, I see how her father holds on to her a little longer and the tears I have been holding back fall. It’s like I am stealing his little princess and I make a vow in my heart to love her, to do better each and every day of our lives.
The service begins and its time for us to say our vows, we opted on writing down our own.
I face her, through the lace veil I can see just how beautiful she looks. She is perfect in all ways possible.
‘Thelma, if someone asked me seven years ago whether I would be marrying you today I would probably say they were insane. But here we are now, for the longest time I have loved you. I love you. I love not only your intelligence but your courage. I love your big heart, your sense of humor, I love your hard work and most importantly I love your calmness.’
I pause as my eyes fill up with tears
‘You are everything I have ever prayed for that is why; I, Mubita Mulife, take you, Liato Antoinette to be my wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God’s holy ordinance and these things I
promise you: I will be faithful to you and honest with you; I will respect, trust, help, and care for you; I will share my life with you; I will forgive you as we have been forgiven; and I will try with you better to understand ourselves, the world, and God; through the best and worst of what is to come, and as long as we live.
And thereto I pledge thee my faith.’ I say tears running down my face They hand me the ring and I slip it on her finger
She looks up, I can see the tears clearly running down her cheeks. I want her to stop because she might ruin her make up but how can I when I am in tears too. She stares at her ring before she starts saying her vows.
‘Mulife, I am a woman of my word and the first time I told you I wanted to do life with you; I meant it. I have loved you with every fiber in me and I am vowing to be faithful to me, to you and to us.’
She pauses. ‘I love you.’
Her voice breaks
‘Mulife I love you and I wouldn’t want this any other way; you are perfect in your imperfections. Flawless in your flaws, you are mature and loving. As we tie these knots to symbolize our connection to one another. Let them represent our trust in each other and our combined strength together. You are caring and I want to be your woman. Your wife.’
‘Your wife.’ She says again and the church laughs
‘ So I, Liato Antoinette, commit myself to you, Mubita Mulife, as your wife; to learn and grow with, to explore and adventure with, to respect you in everything as an equal partner, in the foreknowledge of joy and pain, strength and weariness, direction and doubt, for all the risings and settings of the sun. So, help me God.’ She says before slipping the ring on my finger
The Minister pronounces us husband and wife and asks that I kiss her and there has never been a moment better than this one. What perfect ending would I ask for apart from this one.
THE END
Winnie