Once Upon a Time

*Clears throat* For years, I knew a little bit about Chidi without ever meeting him -- thanks to our mutual friend Nicole who would, ever so often, casually tell random stories about Chidi, lingering on the fact that he was Nigerian and pointing out things that we both had in common, without ever being pushy. I never really thought much about her subtle urges that I consider her friend. And. Then. God. I became really spiritual and I knew that it was time to get married. But I looked around and there was no man there. So I asked God, my Father, to bring me the partner that he had in mind when he made me (I mean God invented coupling, right? So I figured God had a better resume at matchmaking ***(though I take some credit for matching Nicole and her hubby, but I digress)***). And then God told me to make a list of what I wanted (and I did). After this prayer and list session, a series of very peculiar events happened. In sum, on March 10, 2018, my friend, Natasha and I agreed to go to dinner with Nicole, her husband and Chidi (who was randomly in LA due to another series of peculiar *aka God* events). And I dunno if Nicole and I were manifesting Chidi and I's future through our texts, but that dinner turned out to be the first of a lifetime of dinners. Here's the text exchange -- ***** NICOLE: Hey girls! My friend chidi is coming into town in 2 weeks. Are you around to grab dinner either on Friday or Saturday? Or brunch.... OFUNNE: Either works. If we decide dinner then I'd rather Saturday not Friday. NICOLE: 👍🏽 He's single. I'm just throwing that out there.....🙃 OFUNNE: We see what you did there lol. Good looking out. Maybe one if us will lock eyes with him and fall into a whirlwind romance and have babies and live happily ever after. A lot is riding on this dinner/brunch NATASHA: Hahahahaha NICOLE: Lol! A lot!!! Don't let me down!!!!! OFUNNE: will do. ***** And so now....happily ever after.

For what seems like forever, my friend Nicole has been telling me about a girl named Ofunne and how she wanted to hook us up. I never took her serious. While Ofunne's pictures made it clear that she was beautiful, she lived in Los Angeles and I lived in New York. This kind of long distance is just ridiculous. Fast forward to March 2018, an educator in Los Angeles pitched me an idea of bringing my curriculum ideas to her school. I told her I would fly to LA to hear them. I was in full work mode. I prepared PowerPoints and proposals. I was determined to seal the deal on this partnership. In the middle of this preparation, Nicole asked if I wanted to go to dinner with her and her husband. I agreed. Minutes before the dinner, she asked if it was okay if two of her friends joined. I said cool. Again, I was in work mode. I may have worn track pants and a hoodie to this dinner. The plan was to eat, have fun, and go back to my hotel room to strategize. But, in walks Ofunne and she is wearing an electric blue dress. She is stunning. She sits near me, and when each meal came to the table, I suddenly felt the urge to literally serve her. (It was a family-style dinner.) Meal after meal, I scooped heaps of food on her plate. I am not sure why I was doing this. I just felt compelled to. I don't remember much about the conversation. I just remember thinking "I am drawn to this woman." But, still, I was in work mode. After the dinner, I went back to the hotel and worked. Fast forward to a couple months later. I had to be back in LA for more meetings with that educator. Ofunne hit me up to hang out. I was still in work mode, but when she pulled up in her car, I felt drawn to her again. In fact, when we got to the restaurant, I seriously had to pee. But I thought "If I pee now, the magic will disappear." So I just held it! I knew then my life was about to change. I knew all the plans I had would now require me to make space for this beautiful woman.