Put a Ring on It

Do have a blissful marriage!

Ask a girl today how she met her man (partner) and she’ll probably tell you, “Oh, we met through a friend.” Not much of an answer, right? But it is truer than we think.  Meeting through a mutual friend turns out to be the most popular answer given by ladies these days. The thing is this, these women feel more secure opening their hearts to such relationships because it is assumed that friends (usually, the true one) won’t set you up with a bad person.

It is believed that there's a sort of a natural screening system in place that makes for better potential matches.  And so, setting you up with means that they are vouching for that person and strongly believe that chances for a good match---be it  for a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife---are pretty good.

And this is exactly what happened in the case of Mohammed Kanneh and Haja Mandjee Sannoh. They met through a mutual friend and the story is told that Mohammed fell head-over-heels in love with her the second he laid eyes on a photo of hers, sent to him by a mutual friend. The gesture was backed by an avalanche of good and encouraging things said about Haja. Barely three months later, the duo upped and got hitched in a traditional ceremony. Last Sunday, June 30 marked their formal marriage, graced by at least 300 persons from all walks of life.

Haja, affectionately called Geelove, had found the love of her life through Solo, a mutual friend who resides in Philadelphia, USA. Geelove, herself, has been living in Salt Lake City, Utah, for close to nine years.

It all started in January 2012 when Fatim, 23-year-old Haja little sister introduced her to Solo. Solo happened to be hers and Fatim’s brother-in-law, whom she had not met up until then. By the end of January, Solo and Geelove had become very good friends. Then in February, he informed her about this ‘tall, dark and handsome’ dude that he thought would be a good match for her.

“He said he had someone he thought would be good for me; that I need to get to know this person, because talk because the individual under discussion had shown an interest in marrying me,” Geelove told me in Monrovia last Saturday.

Naturally, she was dumbfounded; it sounded too fairy tale-like. First of all, she had just met and gotten to know Solo; and now, here he was, coming up with someone he claimed had already expressed interest in marrying her.

“I was shocked, wondering how someone, just out of the blue, that didn’t know me---nor I him---could want to marry me! But Solo assured me that they had made a point of finding out everything about me and my parents. He urged me to only agree to get to know his friend," she explained.

Geelove wasn’t still convinced, By then, Mohammed could not wait. He had already begun initiating calls from Monrovia to Utah. But Geelove still kept her skepticism about that whole deal. 

“In March, I decided to open up a corridor of communication with this guy because I felt it would not hurt to give him a try. We started talking in March. For him, all he needed was a chance to get know me more so that he could marry me. I was like wow, marry me? Was this guy for real? So, I simply turned him down. because it just seemed too weird.  But he was persistent, saying that his aim was not to mess around but to be true to me,” recalled Geelove.

She soon began to get butterfly in her tummy; ‘this one’s a keeper; NOT an enigma,’ she thought.

“We started talking, got to know each other more; Still, I kept my doubts about him. I did my own background checks and found that he was someone worth talking to. During the months of March and April, we became good friends; by May, we started building a relationship. In that same month, our parents got involved and soon, we were engaged. By September, the traditional wedding had been done,” she continued.

And this is no joke. Mohammed’s persistence and determination to go after what he so much adored, cherished were enough to woo Geelove; swept her off her feet and she found herself in love with a guy she [still] barely knew.

These days, more and more people are meeting online – social networks, dating sites – than you might expect.  Seeking out loved ones as wives or husbands at mosques or churches, etc. continues because it is still believed that these place are good for meeting marriage partners. In fact, most women that I have interacted with prefer meeting their partners at places like these, than at others.

And you? What is your story? Drop a comment below.