Mariama was about 11 years old and I was 14 years old. I came over to my cousins' house to visit. I go upstairs, I knock on the door and this smiling face little girl opens it, but she didn't say a word. So, as she's staring at me, and I'm staring at her, and she's staring back at me. She hits me and runs down the hall toward the back of the house. As I gave chase to catch this kid who hit me and ran, Aunt Jean stopped right in front of me and said, "Boy, you better not hit my godchild!" I said, "Your Godchild hit me and ran!" I felt a little mad about being hit, but I never forgot about this person who kept popping up in my thoughts over the years. Time and time again I would tell this story to different people about this little girl, and each time I would wonder if she was ok. Until I had an end of Summer BBQ in 2019. My cousin, Shari let me and my friends use her backyard for the final Summer BBQ with a few friends and family. About 300 people showed up, and Mariama was among them. To my surprise, I had no idea that she would have been here, but I was so happy she showed. These ripples in the pool of life that Mariama had started in our childhood caused life's journey to place us here, on our way to our wedding day.