We parked next to a white car in the library lot, and Zack shouted loudly, "Hey Gracie, that guy over there is staring at you!"
I heard a honk and I saw this guy in a car in the parking lot. I shushed Zack, and quickly walked to the library. Suddenly I heard a honk and turned to see the guy in the white car looking at me. I gave him a rude look and hurried inside. I must admit, I was a little creeped out, so after a while, I asked my brother to see if the weirdo was still the parking lot. Zack pointed him out and so I kept waiting in the library, but the guy just would not leave the parking lot!
Finally I gathered momentum and I walked straight over to this man and rudely said, "Why are you standing here waiting for me? What, are you a weirdo or something?" He looked surprised, and smiling, replied "Uh, actually my sister works at the library. I'm waiting for her." He pointed behind me and I saw his sister walking towards the car. I had to pick up my face off the floor. I was so embarrassed that I gave him my number.
That was in March, and then Yisa called me almost every day for nine months, often leaving messages. My roommate kept trying to convince me, saying "The guy who honked, he's hanging on strong, Gracie. I think you should call him!" I finally gathered the courage and called him back. He started driving me to work every morning, and we eventually started going out.
We got engaged New Year's Eve 2005 and immediately started making arrangements for the wedding. We found Celebrations at the Bay online — it seemed like an island resort, and perfect for us. Apparently it had just opened at the time, and fantastic owner, Rob Goyena, worked with us from start to finish.
The most adventurous part of the wedding planning though was what I call the "Africa" part. I'm Kenyan, and Yisa is Nigerian, and we planned to get married in the Euro-African style. However, in our cultures, the marriage is not recognized until a dowry is paid, and there were many important customs that we had to follow in order to guarantee that we'd be blessed by our ancestors.
The tradition dictated that Yisa's family had to come to my home and ask for an agreement of marriage, and they had to bring gifts for the mother, since she's "giving away" a daughter. The gift can be cows or money, but if it's money instead of cows, then it must be of fair value. So, Yisa's parents and an entourage of family elders converged on my mother's house to begin the negotiating process. Yisa and I were not allowed to be in the same room while the families discussed the possibility of our marriage. Drinks were served but no food was eaten until the agreement was made and the elders had approved our marriage. The whole process took about six hours.
