It’s a cloudy Monday afternoon and there is nothing good about this day. I have been dreading it all my life and now that it is here, I feel so hopeless and helpless. My heart is too heavy and the tears that had been threatening to come out since we arrived at the cemetery start pouring out slowly.

I told myself a million times before that I shouldn’t cry because men don’t cry, but I just couldn’t hold the tears any longer. How can I not cry when I’ve lost my wife of two years; the only woman I’ve ever loved and the only person who meant the world to me?

My Angella was gone. She was gone. And the most painful thing was that I watched her die. I watched her fade away little by little and there was nothing I could do to help her. I couldn’t save her. Memories of my wife flooded my mind.

Angella and I met a few years back when I was working as a reporter for a certain local newspaper in the country. It was one of those days when I had knocked off late from work because I had to finish writing my article for the next day’s paper. I was driving when I spotted this beautiful, young lady walking by herself along the road. I thought to myself, wow she is so beautiful!

Being the gentleman that I am, I stopped the car and asked her where she was going. It turned out we were heading in the same direction so I offered her a ride. While we were driving we chatted to pass time. She told me her name was Angella Ziyenda and she was a proud owner of one of the famous boutiques in town. Not only was she beautiful but she was nice and friendly as well. Just the way I wanted my woman to be.

We exchanged phone numbers and instantly became friends. I took her out for lunch that weekend and realised that I felt more comfortable being around her than I’ve ever felt around any other woman. And so, more and more lunches and dinners followed afterwards.

We had so much in common. We both liked watching movies, so we went to cinemas every Friday night; we both enjoyed reading novels and we often shared the stories we read. She also shared an interest in writing. So we automatically found ourselves spending more time together than necessary, considering that we were just friends at the time.

I wasn’t accustomed to having cute female friends. Like they say, closeness brings affection.

So there came a time when we could no longer deny the chemistry between us. We were driving from the cinema one night, when I saw her observing the stars intently. I asked if she had never seen stars before and she laughed loudly. She asked me why there are so many stars in the sky.

“I wouldn’t know for sure but I once heard that those stars represent the number of people on earth. And so when a person dies, one star disappears. And as you might have observed, some stars are much brighter than the others, and no matter how hard you try, you just cannot overlook their brightness.”

She listened, not once taking her eyes off the sky.

“And among them stands the brightest star; the one whose brightness surpasses all. That star is you Angella. In a world of millions stars, it is you that I see. It is you my heart beats for. Your beauty and kindness surpasses that of other women. In short, they say that some things are better to remain unsaid but I think some feelings are better not held back. I love you, Angella. Please make me the happiest man alive by accepting to be my woman.”

“Oh Andrew, I am thrilled! I love you too, and yes, I will be your woman today and a million years to come!”

Hearing those words melted my heart and it jumped with excitement and we kissed passionately. It was a kiss that beat all kisses. A kiss full of unspoken promises. I didn’t even realise I had stopped the car right in the middle of the road until a furious police officer came knocking on my window, asking us to get a room instead of causing traffic jam. Angella started laughing and we drove off laughing all the way home.

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Tell us: How did you and your love meet?