Marriage- a bonding ritual

As I sat in the dressing room few hours to my wedding ceremony I couldn’t stop staring at my
engagement ring. The little twinkle from the emerald seems to be mocking my adamance just few years
ago to never get married. The ugliness from my parents’ divorce totally killed my interest in any kind of
lifelong commitment but it all changed on the 9th of February 2019 at the wedding of Barrister Asia and
Engineer Sheriff. I was invited by my best friend Abidah who was a family member of the groom.
The engagement dinner was slated on the 8th of February and was a small elegant party amongst family
only. I was Abidah’s date so I attended but I stayed at a corner of the room. It was beautiful watching
the loving ceremony. I guess I was really engrossed watching the couple dance as I didn’t notice a
stranger standing besides me. After coming back to, I was startled at the lack of distance between us but
I was mesmerized by his eyes for they were the lightest shade of brown. My stare must have been very
fervent as he felt so uncomfortable he started coughing. That, was our first meeting.
I apologized for the fervent stare. He introduced himself as Jamal and apologized for startling me as he
wasn’t expecting anyone to be there. I asked him what he was doing slinking around the room and he
asked me the same. This broke the ice and we started talking. We were so engrossed we did not notice
the passing of time. At the end of the night we promised to meet up the next day at the wedding
ceremony and also exchanged contacts. I was so excited for the next day and my smile was so blinding.
At the wedding the next day, I found out he was the son of the bride. I was astonished. Our story began
from there. We’ve had fights and quarrels. We’ve ignored each other for weeks. We’ve cried and
shouted at each other but after all these our relationship became stronger.
Fast forward to three years later, we are getting married in the same hall we first met. We met at a
wedding and this I believe, actually cemented our fate to get married. The bond of witnessing a
marriage ritual together has part of a bond for the past few years and I pray it continues to bind us for
the rest of our life