By Robert K James
Part of first Corinthians 13:4 reads that ?love is patient, love is kind?. Indeed love is patient. When Jacquelyne Alesi and her hubby Ssozi Faishil Junior first met in 2000 during their school going days, no one, not even they themselves or the unknown demigods of love in society would predict that would end up as husband and wife nearly two decades later.
?We meet way back in school in 2000. I was in S.1 and he was in S.3,? Jacquelyne narrates how she and Junior met all those years back.
?I was an athlete (netballer) and he was a footballer so our schools met and he told his friends he thinks he liked someone in the netball team and that was me. All his friends laughed because I was really young and small in size,? she adds.
Although they were attending different schools at the time, Jacquelyne vividly says that ?it was love at the first sight? for Junior.
?We first become good friends, then later after 3 years, we became sweethearts,? she told Mikolo writer Robert.
Around 2005, the teenage loving couple ?lost contact?. Jacquelyne then joined university while Junior ?had gone to work somewhere far?. About four years later, the two lovers reunited but were not quick to rekindle their love as Jacquelyne explains.
?In 2009, we met again and this time we decided to stick on each other but as friends.? Why as friends?? ?We wanted to continue knowing each other so that we don’t make any mistake.?
But then again, with time, the chemistry between these two now-grownups was too strong a feeling to ignore. As time went by, the two evoked their love but it?s safe to say that Jacquelyne wasn’t yet fully into it.
?In 2016 he proposed but I refused because my job was a busy one. It wouldn’t allow me to stay home all the time yet I had promised to give my relationship a priority,? she reminisces.
Despite the ‘No’, Junior wasn?t just about to give up on the love of his life. Although it took some time to pick himself up, and re-gather his courage, he proposed again in 2017 and this time around she said ?Yes?.
?Finally, in October 2017 I said YES. Ohhhh my God, I think it was the happiest moment of both our lives,? she recounts.
?This changed many things in both our lives because it required us to start planning everything together and I want to say it has been so far the best decision I have ever made in my life,? she adds.
And like Michelle Williams, Beyonce and Kelly Rowland sang, ?when Jesus say yes, nobody can say no?. On 10th February 2018, Ssozi Faishil Junior made his first visit (Kukyala) to Alesi?s parents? home and on 25th August, he was officially introduced to the rest of the family, friends and loved ones as the chosen in Gayaza, Wakiso District during a sucessful introduction ceremony.
?Many people have not believed that we went through all that but it’s because we wanted to make sure we’re doing the right thing. Marriage is not a test but rather a real life story, so if you enter a marriage just because you want to test something you will end up failing and failing so hard that you even hate every man or woman you see.?
The couple is planning to walk down the aisle sometime to come next year if all goes well and as Mikolo, we pray it does.
Photos by: Luyrick Hygrenz Migadde
