14 Years.

That’s how long Diana and I have been married today.

In some ways, it feels like it was just yesterday that my wife and I walked down the aisle to say our vows.

In other ways, it feels like a lifetime ago.

Last night, we spent some time looking through our wedding photos. I could hardly recognise myself! Omukyala ye bambi, okufumba afumbye and I am living proof of it!

It was particularly fascinating looking at the guests that attended the wedding. Friends and family from all points of our lives. People we’d known since childhood, others we’d met as teenagers and yet others we’d met at university. Family that knew us better than we knew ourselves, family we hardly knew…even a few random people that we didn’t know! It was truly a village.

And on this 14th anniversary of our marriage, it is that village I would like to pay a special tribute to. In a sense, marriage is about two people and two people alone. What they choose to do…or not, what they choose to believe…or not, how they choose to live… we all tend to recognise the fact that a husband and wife are a complete unit. But these two people do not randomly come into a marriage. They come into it standing on the basis of their lived experiences. And so in another sense, marriage is about the coming together of a myriad of experiences. The families we are from give the foundation of what to expect in marriage. The friendships we forge along life’s winding paths influence the kind of people we not only become but also meet. The teachers we have, the clubs, games and activities we engage in…all these things impact us and form us.

Ubuntu.

I am because you are.

And because you are, we are.

So if you knew me before I walked down the aisle with my beloved

If you knew my beloved before she said ‘I do’ to me

If we’ve met since then, online or in person

You are in some way a part of our journey

Thank you.

To you my wife, my fellow sojourner,

Who choses each day to do life with me

May your path always be lit with divine intervention

May your years be many and full of life

And may God continue to grant us His favour

That each day we wake, we shall live for His sake

I loved you then and I love you now

Thank you for the life that we are making together.

Happy 14th Mukyala Muganzi.

Ka sukaali kko keeko maama.

Written by

Ganzi Isharaza

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