Nneoma's Version
Beginning of Butterflies
Our family lived in the same apartment way back 1999/2000, and as neighbors we were childhood friends. His family lived on the second floor while my family lived on the ground floor. I was closer to his immediate younger sister and he was close to my elder brother, but we all played together with other kids on the block.
One fateful day in December 2005, I was sitting on the floor of the upstairs balcony, talking with his sister as usual. She stepped out for a minute, and he approached me. He placed his hands on my face and said, “You are beautiful” (I was blushing, lol). We chatted for a minute, and he walked away when his sister returned. I would say that was the beginning of the butterflies in my tummy whenever I saw him. We remained friends, but we became closer than we had been before.
In 2007, my family moved out, we kept in touch but not very often, he would chat me on Facebook but our communication was almost non existent and life took us on different pathways. In 2018, I gave him my number so we could relate more often. Viewing each other’s WhatsApp status, having random conversations, and checking up every now and then became the order of the day.
On 14th February 2023, he posted his brother’s picture on his WhatsApp status to celebrate his birthday. I replied and told him to wish his brother a happy birthday from me. We got talking that day, catching up on old times, and we have been talking since then till now—and forever (lol). This rekindled our feelings for each other, and I came to Nigeria in April 2023 to see him. He officially asked me to be his girlfriend, and our love has continued to grow stronger afterward.
Our Proposal Story
We made our relationship known to both our families but unfortunately, Nneoma lost her Dad in 2023 and we had to channel our time and energy towards honoring him. Afterwards, we continue planning our future together which has led us to taking this big step of getting married.