Ello Lovies! Can you bloody believe it’s less than a week until the festive season officially starts?? I can’t bloody well believe it I tell you it’s manic!?
The Past couple of weeks have flown by but what really stood out was the milestone I celebrated with my husband- 10 years of marriage!? Many people think it’s easy promising yourself to one person your whole life & in theory it is but actually keeping that promise is the hard part. Especially whilst living in 2 different countries when you see each other every 3 months. Falling in love is easy but staying in love & constantly working to maintain that love is hard f**king work. I want to share with you the story of how I met my love to mark our 10 year milestone of being husband & wife!?
May 21st 2005 I was 3 months away from graduating from De Montfort University in Leicestershire, United Kingdom. I found myself at a neighboring student union (student bar) in Leicester University, (West Midlands outside of London) consoling one of my Besties who’d recently broken up with a guy whom she loved & thought loved her back but found out he was a liar!? I heard a male voice ask to put his drink on my table & irritably responded “yes” then looked up to see the hottest guy i’d EVER seen I kid you not. He was well over 6 feet tall, dark & handsome. It was lust at first sight!? Trying to be a good friend I ignored that feeling & went back to my distraught friend. She could see I was in lust so she pushed me to the dance floor when the said male voice asked me to dance. Now I expected him to dance seriously like my past dance partners but all he did was take the piss (make fun) of himself busting the silliest dance moves i’d ever seen. I remember laughing really hard whilst getting to know him & when the night ended he asked me the phrase i’ll never forget “Do you know I’m American??” To which I responded “yes, so?!” His name was Zack, he lived in Scottsdale, Arizona & was visiting British friends who went to ASU for a semester but attended Leicester University. Zack had plans to visit family in Italy & Denmark whilst on his first European trip ever & today was his second day in Europe. He asked me if he could come up to my place having walked me home following our dance off & I told him “you have to work for it!” to which he laughed at as the next day on our official first date of dinner & a comedy club he did indeed work for it! lol?
We spent 2 weeks together trying not to fall in love to which we surely did. Zack went to visit his family in Italy & Denmark & then came back to see me in Leicester extending his trip as we knew our bond was special. However the impending question was as we lived in 2 different countries, Arizona & England how were we going to make this work??? It just so happened my Cousin was getting married later that year in Southern California & my whole family were traveling there so we made plans to meet up & drive to Arizona after.
We spoke everyday for the 6 months we were apart as with a long distance relationship you don’t have a “relationship” unless you do indeed speak everyday. There were tough times of missing each other,bouts of jealousy, crying, & we even broke up twice & made up twice as the love was still there! Everyone told us to stop this madness but we loved each other too much & having a relationship across 2 continents you have to be somewhat insane & we were just for each other!
Zack drove to visit me in California a week before my cousins wedding & met my immediate family (all 8 of them) & my Father who was a bit paranoid had my older sister Mary video tape him. She asked Zack questions like “Are you a Rapper?” (just in case, I later found out by Mary I went missing after traveling to Arizona with zack) Lmao!! ?It just so happened the wedding got cancelled so we got to spend even more time together. Visiting Arizona was a blast & we could really see a future together…
After 2 & a half years of visiting each other every 3 months London to Arizona, Arizona to London (cheers indeed British Airways one flight a day!??) Zack proposed to me around Christmas 2006 on my visit to Arizona & I said yes! I moved to Arizona April 2007 & for immigration purposes got married June 24th (as a Brit you can remain in the States for up to 3 months at a time only) by the Pastor who would later marry us in front if our family & friends . We then planned our entire wedding together in 7 months & got Married in front of 130 guests from Nigeria (my original birth place) London & all over the U.S at McCormick Ranch on November 11th, 2007 or 11/11/07. That is how we came about! Through all the struggles love prevailed in the end. Happy 10 Years Zacko!❤️
Catch you next time Lovies,
Cheers & Best Wishes,
Afi Like Taffy. A.L.T
