When I was in Junior Secondary
School, a teacher asked us in class
‘What is love?’ Well, I was about 12 years young and had no real definition of
love. Yes, I used the word a lot and as a proud Church girl (#ProudChurchGirl)
we were taught about God and love, still, I couldn't find words to describe
what love was. After school that day, I ran home and went to check for the dictionary
meaning of love. I read in Oxford’s Advanced Learners Dictionary that ‘Love is a strong feeling of affection for
somebody or something’. I repeated it till it stuck in my head and
imagined myself dazzling the whole class the next day at school.
The next day came and Uncle (as
we fondly called our teachers) asked again, ‘What is love?’ I raised up my hand
and with a very loud, feminine voice so everybody could hear, I said; Love is
a strong feeling of affection for somebody or something!. The whole class was
in grave silence and all attention was towards me. Uncle looked at me with so
much amazement and I was the star of that day- the only girl who could define
love. *Smiles* Little did I know my definition of love was about to change.
Well, I won’t bore you with the
stories of my crushes :D (I’ve had a number of them though, so you don’t think
I’m a stick without emotions) but if you ask me, I think of Love differently
now. The dictionary was too abstract to define Love for me. Experience has
taught me that much more than the ‘STRONG FEELING’, Love is a decision. If you
are a woman like me who doesn’t think dating is for fun and doesn’t consider
heartbreaks as easy walkovers, Love is a DECISION. A decision to have and to hold
only made by matured people, not babies. The feeling of love won’t keep two
people together for 60,70,80 years, it is the decision to stay together that
does… that no matter what, come what may, I’m staying with you.
I should
make that decision soon.
***************
The men in my life will make such
a long list and a big book….. I’ll just list the first three in the order I met
them.
The first man in my life, the man
who my whole idea of masculinity revolves round, my teacher, my instructor, world’s greatest
disciplinarian( He believes in ‘sparing not the rod’ and he caned me well), my
friend and my father- Reverend Koye-Ladele ( fondly called Father Ko) . Dad, words
cannot quantify how much influence you’ve had on me. I’m so proud to be a ‘Koye-Ladele’
and I love you from here to the moon and back.
My brother, Mogbekeloluwa. *whew*
Where do I start from? Gbeke is greatness personified! Greatness wearing
t-shirt and jeans. I have got a lot of
attention in ALL the schools I’ve attended because of him. He once told people
at his birthday, ‘If you think I’m awesome, watch out for Simi’. I was shocked!
He believes in me. He’s such a big brother. Mum told me I had some 9 months
Typhoid when I was 3 years old and my baby big brother at that time took up the
responsibility of cleaning me up all through. Chai, He’s also blunt- we like to
call his bluntness candor :D . You don’t want to hear the truth from my
brother; He gives it to you RAW. I love you bro… so much, so so much.
So I tell everybody who cares to
listen about a young man I know. His name is Mofehintoluwa. God! I boldly say that Tolu
is an explosive. I remember his cute eyes when we brought him home from the
hospital and mummy welcomed him to Nigeria. He’s a big boy now and I dare not
tell him I once bathed for him :D He’s such a great guy! Tolu, despite the fact
I’m presently not happy with you, I want you to know I love you. You’re a
phenomenon Tolu and I’m watching out for you BIG TIME. You’re shaking the
world, we see it already!
Finally, there’s this young, handsome man I ………. *end of post*
*TonguesOut*
Cheers to the weekend.
Enjoy your day!