I met Anna when I was seventeen. When you’re seventeen, your heart dictates who you should love based on what your eyes can see. At seventeen, the only thing your eyes can see in a girl is beauty. So you go around falling in love with beautiful girls, those who have grown breasts and those walking with protruded chests, pretending they’d grown breasts already.

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP CHANNEL TO RECEIVE ALL STORIES IN YOUR INBOX

Anna was the latter. She was fifteen or so but there was barely anything on her chest so she walked chest out, trying to make you see what was not there. When we played she said, “One day when my breast fully blooms, the world won’t know peace.” Or she’d say, “My breast will one day come and you won’t have anything to tease me with.”

Yes, I was teasing her so when I said I loved her, she also told her friends so they could tease me for loving a girl when I had nothing. Jane said something that hurt me to this day. She said, “You don’t have money. You’re also not handsome. You’re not part of the school’s football team and you’re not a smart student too. What do you have for us to consider you?”

If it was today, she would have asked me what I brought to the table since I didn’t have all those qualities. But I didn’t stop pursuing Anna. I wrote love letters that I didn’t have replies to. When we were home for vacation, I looked for her everywhere. I didn’t have anything but I had time so I used the time to look for her.

After SHS when she had grown a little bit of something on her chest and was without the influence of Jane and other friends, she mellowed a little and each day, I saw a girl who was loving me little by little. One day she said yes to my proposal and a week later, my dad left town with all of us. We were coming to Accra. Dad got promoted.

Everyone was happy but I was angry at their happiness. How dare you all cut my happiness short with your unnecessary happiness? I asked them in my head. You took me away from my girlfriend just because you got a miserable promotion?

I lost touch with Anna. The next time we met again was nine years later. We laughed at our childhood dreams and made a mockery of our feelings when we were young. I said, “At least you had a dream come true.” She asked, “What dream?” I didn’t say a word. I only stared at her chest. She slapped my chest and said, “Go way you,” and burst out laughing.

“You had a dream come true and there’s still peace in the world. We all won,” I said.

“Yes we won. At least this is to show that dreams do come true,” she responded.

Just a year later, I wore a black suit and my best shoes. She wore a white gown I’d bought with my money. I held her hand and walked the aisle with her. When the pastor asked, I responded, “I do.” She said the same thing and we both walked out as a married couple.

I said a gown I’d bought with my money because this time, I had money to buy a gown so Jane’s assertion no longer held true. I had something. A friend asked me, “After all these years, how did you know she was the one?”

Three things came to mind…

#1. Her constant use of ‘We.’ After our first meeting and we exchanged numbers. She was the first person to call: “When are we meeting again?” When we met, she asked when we were going to do it again. When she saw something that was nice, she would call to tell me, “I think it’s nice, why don’t we do some?” So one day I asked myself, “Why is she always thinking about us?”

#2. She could think about things I wasn’t thinking about; My elder sister had a major surgery and was at the hospital. When I told her about it she asked, “So when are ‘WE’ going to visit her?”

We set a date and time. When she was coming she came with a basket full of things my sister would need at the hospital. She said, “I know it won’t come to your head so I brought them just in case.”

That wasn’t the only time. It was about the little things. She would pick extra tissues or an extra towel. She’d do registrations for me because she knew “It wouldn’t come to my head.” Anytime we had to do something or go somewhere, I was relaxed because Anna knew what wouldn’t come to my head and would take care of it.

#3. It felt very easy to make her happy. When we were kids and were easily influenced, she was made to believe a man should have something to give before love will make a way. I didn’t have the world when we met again. When I proposed to her and she said yes, she had a car but I didn’t. When I offered to drive her, she was overly excited. When I called at the time I promised to call her she was overly excited. When I was with her and wanted to leave but I was able to spend two extra minutes with her, she was on top of the world.

Three Months After Our Breakup, He Got Married

We didn’t fall in love right away when we met again. We had a history but that was long ago. When we met again, she made it easy. She made life about us so I caught on with her and we moved. She asked what I found in her when she was fifteen; “I didn’t even have breasts,” she said. I answered, “It’s beauty I saw because that was all my eyes could see.”

She told me,”Then I’m happy we didn’t fall in love then. We would have destroyed this future we are having. You would have met a lot of beautiful people and mess us up.”

She was right and still right after thirteen years together.

—Godwin

This story you just read was sent to us by someone just like you. We know you have a story too. Email it to us at [email protected]. You can also drop your number and we will call you so you tell us your story.

*****