The Connection

When they moved into the estate,
 they were by far the poorest family! 
Her father acquired the land through 
the cooperative organization at his 
place of work 
The cooperative bought several acres 
of land and sold single plots to members 
who indicated interest! 
The cost was deducted from their salaries! 
Somehow a bigger company got interested 
in the same parcel of land! 
The company approached their cooperative 
and offered much more! 
The cooperative told the members and all 
of them sold their land except for her father! 
Her father was tired of paying rent and
found the location of the land very central 
and convenient! 
Her father was a cook with a multinational 
company! 
The job paid well but not well enough for him 
to build without the family going through 
some hard times! 
Her mother was a typist, she had a shop right 
outside the post office where she helped 
people type their letters. 
As soon as they roofed the house, they moved in! 
Their rent was due and her father cannot to 
pay the rent because he had committed his money 
to building the house 
Rent took the bulk of the household income and 
contributed to the slow pace of work at the building 
site! 
It was a giant step of faith 
The house didn’t have doors and windows, 
the floor wasn’t tiled and they had to make 
do with pit latrine! 
But they were in their own house and things 
can only get better She was the first of five 
girls and a boy
They had a vegetable garden in their compound! 
They also had a “farm” by the roadside where 
they planted maize and cassava! 
They were poor and had to make their own food 
because they couldn’t afford to buy anything! 
She had a total of five clothes apart from her 
school uniform!
As a result, she and her sisters stayed indoors 
most of the time! 
They were surrounded by wealth! 
Mansions flanked them on every side and 
flashy cars littered their street! 
The land on which their house was built had 
appreciated greatly in value, her father 
could have sold it
And built another house somewhere less 
valuable and put a lot of money in the bank! 
But he refused He was determined to live 
on the land he bought with the sweat of 
his youth! His stubbornness made their 
mother very unhappy! 
She was tired of struggling and her father 
could have eased their struggles by selling 
the land to the moneybags! 
She was in their compound, tending to the 
vegetable garden at the age of eighteen 
when the window of the mansion next to 
them opened! 
A young man stood there, looking at her 
curiously through the window! 
It was awkward!
She had never seen the window open before! 
The house belonged to one of the super-rich 
and snobbish families that had never 
acknowledged that her family was next door! 
He said “Hi” 
She said “Hello” 
He said “Can I come over and join you?” 
She said “Okay” 
He closed the window!
A few minutes later, there was a knock 
on their gate One of her younger sisters 
opened the gate and he walked in 
He was polite He wore an Ankara shirt on 
a pair of Jeans and leather slippers 
She didn’t know what to do 
It was the first time ever a guy who is 
not a family member
Will walk into their house 
He walked straight up to her and introduced 
himself He said he liked nature and admired 
what she was doing She smiled & continued 
her work on the garden 
He stayed three hours that first day before 
he returned home All she could offer him 
as their guest were words! 
So she talked and he talked 
He told her he was studying abroad and had 
to return home due to health reasons 
She told him she was still awaiting admission 
into the university She just wrote JAMB at 
the time 
He came back every evening after that day 
He was harmless!
They tend the garden and talked 
After a while they started taking strolls in 
the estate and watching movies together 
He was kind to her sisters (they were young 
and swooned at him for obvious reasons) 
but he handled them just like his younger ones 
Her parents also got to know him
It was inevitable, he came to their house 
every day at 5pm and wouldn’t leave until 8 pm, 
sometimes he waited till 9pm 
They ate together in their house sometimes 
He had been born in the UK and was visiting 
Nigeria for the first time 
They had a lot to talk about! 
They both had a lot to learn! 
After three months, her results were released! 
She passed and was offered admission 
into a federal university! 
He also told her about his impending return 
to the UK 
The doctors had cleared him of the illness! 
He had improved drastically! 
He never told her what the illness was! 
She felt it was his decision to share it with 
her or keep quiet 
On the day she was going off to school, 
she realized she was in love with him 
She cried all the way to school 
Her parents thought she was just being 
sentimental about leaving home for the 
first time
They had no idea she was pining for her love! 
He showed up in her school the next day! 
He said he couldn’t sleep all night and had 
to see her 
He didn’t confess his undying love but it 
was obvious 
They hugged and kissed for the first time 
and promised to exchange emails every day!
He went off to the UK a few days later! 
Two days after he left for the UK, 
his parents came to thank her parents! 
They said he suffered from clinical depression 
in the UK and things got so bad they had to 
bring him back home! 
The time he spent with their family was 
therapeutic
He got better faster than the psychiatrist 
projected and had settled down in the UK 
to face his studies! 
They said the doctor has advised that to 
prevent him from becoming obsessed with 
their daughter and their family 
The family must severe all communications 
with him and do this immediately! 
They said he had been calling them and 
every time he called he would ask after “her”! 
They believed this was unhealthy for him! 
They requested that she cut off all communication 
with him immediately so that he can heal! 
Her parents told her! 
It made a lot of sense to her! 
He was the first rich boy in the estate who 
didn’t treat her as if she was beneath his class 
He was kind and friendly and acted most 
times as if they were equals. 
The explanation fits! She faced her studies 
and ignored all his mails 
She would read them and cry but she wanted 
him to be well! 
The emails came in daily for 100 days... 
Then they ceased! 
He had seen the handwriting on the wall! 
She was never going to respond!
He stopped writing 
She talked to herself 
Of what use would it be to start what would 
only end in tears! 
He was different but his path had been 
clearly mapped out by his parents! 
She did not feature in it She faced her studies 
She graduated 
She did her NYSC 
Five years later, she went home for the 
Christmas holidays 
She got an invitation to attend his birthday party 
in his parent's mansion 
He would be coming home!
She went 
All she wanted to do was see how well he was 
and explain to him why she didn’t reply to his 
email 
He was the only one at home 
There was no party 
He told her he didn’t want to come to her 
house to see her He wanted to bring her 
into his world He showed her around 
They talked
She explained what happened and apologized 
for not replying to his emails 
He told her he was too ashamed at the time 
to tell her he was suffering from depression! 
He felt she might not understand and she 
might consider him crazy or dangerous! 
He was hurt that she didn’t write to him, 
not even once!
She opened her bag and brought out all 
his emails! 
She had printed every one of them and 
kept them in her room! 
She read all 100 emails to herself over and 
over to remind herself that she once mattered 
to someone 
She had never been in another relationship
 that made any sense!
He was her first sensible relationship and the last! 
The other guys she met were all about sex and lust 
Some even act as if they were doing her a favor 
for being with her 
He was never inappropriate with her and 
treated her with dignity 
She really loved him 
He had missed her
He told her he couldn’t date anybody else 
until he was sure she really didn’t want 
anything to do with him! 
His parents told him they told her and her family 
to keep off but he had expected that she would 
at least write to wish him well and inform him 
of what was going on!
They were together till late in the evening 
His parents arrived 
He introduced her to them as his girlfriend! 
They embraced her with joy 
He saw her off and told her to pick a wedding 
date! 
He said “let’s get married” 
Wow! 
He arrived at her house with his parents the 
next morning
Their parents had a discussion 
After almost two hours of anxiously sitting 
on her hands 
She was sent for!
 Her parents asked her if she wanted to marry him 
She said yes! 
The family agreed on a date for the introduction! 
They got married in July 2017! 
Their marriage is blessed with a Son! 

Ps: The event happened in Ibadan 
The couple lives in the UK
When love is real, it proves itself to be so!