LOVE CAME FOR ME

Love is a phenomenon that many people claim to understand but that only a few people have experienced - I happen to be one of them.

All through my life, I have always thought I understood the concept of love in its entirety. This is because I have been involved in organizations where I have had to communicate on the subject of love and relationships via music, drama and speaking. You could imagine how good I became at ‘doing’ love that I was nicknamed ‘Kenny Hitches’, named after Will Smith’s character, Alex Hitches, the successful love doctor in the blockbuster movie – Hitch. Somehow if you have been involved in relationships that have eventually led to happy marriages, you would feel me on this, I considered myself, a doyen of love.

You know, like every other young lad, I have always dreamt of getting married to a pretty, intelligent lady who would ultimately love the Lord but I never knew that ‘the one’ I was going to make my own was going to have all of these desirable qualities to excellent degrees.

Feel this – a lady who is a young aspiring doctor (dentist)-in-the-making, teaches the word of God passionately and accurately, possesses a sweetly generous spirit, coupled with a great body! (Am still spiritual, ok?) That, my folks, is what I consider my ‘spec’!

I always say that beauty is not all in the eye of the beholder but starts from the mind of the beheld. That underlines the importance of self confidence, she is confident and not arrogant (there is actually a thin line between the two – arrogance and confidence), but she manages to maintain the required balance that would make a man go gaga with love and desires. I fell in love with this girl and it has been joy all the way. Welcome to my world, beautifully brightened my one and only diva – Joke Smith.

WHO’S THAT GIRL?
I saw Joke Smith for the first time in 1995 at Federal Government College, Idoani. She was just transferred into the school as a junior Class student then while I was in the Senior Class. I remember seeing this innocent, neat, sweet, loving, gentle, comely and very-well-packaged girl in her blue uniform. I was magnetized by her rapacious beauty.
What constantly tickled my fancy about Joke was her curly hair. The lovely smile she constantly wore on her face was absolutely tantalizing. My God! She made me strong and weak all at the same time to the point that I couldn’t get her off my mind for hours! (Confusion, you’d say!) Would you blame me?

Joke went around with an atmosphere that portrays that of a well brought-up girl, what you would call, ‘take home to mama’, and I must be quick say that she still does. When I saw her, I concluded an angel must be missing in heaven; she is that angel because seeing her, for me, is seeing heaven.

Even though, a day never passes without thinking about her but I was spiritually and morally mature enough to know that it wasn’t the right time for both of us to be talking about love and intimacy. Moreover, my academic goals and values as well as my duties as a school prefect and as a Christian fellowship leader constrained me from approaching and telling her how much she means to me and how much I’d really love for her to be mine. Some years later, I graduated and left the school without expressing my feelings for Joke to anyone, not even her. I had achieved my academic dream by becoming the first runner up to the best graduating student from the school that year but I left with that void that only Joke’s love could fill.

For about ten years, I lost contact with sweet Joke. I wouldn’t say I forgot about her but I just didn’t remember anymore (that sounded contradictory but pause and think about it for a moment). This must have been due to my new found academic pursuits in the university. Somehow, as God would have it I had a ‘school son’, Bayode Atandeyi, who sometimes talked about her each time he came home on holiday. That, in a way, kept the thoughts of her alive.

It is necessary to say here that it matters the kind of prayer we say to God as far as our lives are concerned. Mine has always being that the good Lord should make me a prisoner of His will. That means He should orchestrate my life according to His plans with or without my consent, and I tell you, He did it in Joke’s case.

SECOND COMING
I had being in two unsuccessful affairs since the last time I saw Joke, she also had had her fair share of failed relationships as I would later find out. After high school, I understood she was admitted into the University of Accra for her undergraduate studies. For those years, we communicated online but most of the times she never really responded to me the way I expected simply because to her, 10 years was a long time to remember me. Not for me, because with what I felt for her then, it was like a day.

I was in my Ikoyi office one morning, when I received a call that turned out to be Joke. I was completely surprised considering her disposition to me whenever we chatted online. To my amazement, she was willing to see me again. As I hurriedly dashed out to see her that day, I said to myself – ‘this is another chance, boy, don’t blow it, boy!’ I drove my black Volkswagen Bora straight to our point of meet somewhere inside Victoria Garden City.

BOUNDLESS LOVE
At exactly 6:35pm, she arrived in a datsun car and before you could say Jack Robinson, my heart beats had doubled (did I say doubled, tripled!) In a matter of seconds, several thoughts ran through my head like fast-moving vehicles jostling on a busy road of Ikorodu in Lagos Metropolis. I said to myself, this is it, boy!
As she gracefully stepped out of the car, oh my God! I couldn’t help the nostalgic feeling that ran through my spine in a rush! It was like I became that young Idoani boy again. Walking in my direction, with pomp and pageantry, is that lady…….the very woman of my dreams.

After spending an hour together, it was as if we had known each other forever. We talked and believe me, I lost count of time. I experienced love like never before. A second with Joke is like heaven.

Nice story, right? The concluding part of this story will be heard on the 17th of May, 2008 when I would be ‘ringing’ her up as my WIFE (Woman Inspired For Exploits).

See http://joke-kenny.weddingannouncer.com for details.

Stay rapturable.