MY BEST CHOICE - by Gift Olabode

Dear Rachel, I still bless the day I met you. I bless the day you said yes to me. I want you to know that I am wearing a smile as I write this to you, so please, wipe that tear from your face. I know that face. You were the most beautiful fruit I plucked in my youth.The best plant I ever watered.The best woman I ever chose to stand beside me. I can still remember the day you farted on our first date, and how I farted too just to wipe the embarrassment from your face. I am sorry for putting such an embarrassing memory in this letter, my love. I just needed to make you smile, even if it is through your tears. I remember your face as you walked down that aisle, teary, joyful, and beautiful. And how you could not stop kissing me at the wedding reception.I hope that memory has put a little blush on your face. I am glad I chose you.I could not have asked for a better prayer partner, a better companion, a better woman to walk through life with. When I met you, I did not find a lady. I found a wife. And I have blessed God for that till this day. There were years in our marriage when loving you became difficult. Not because you had become less beautiful, less kind, or less worthy of my love. I simply could not feel those thrilling emotions anymore.I was confused. I wondered where the butterflies had gone. I wondered why the feelings that once came so effortlessly had become so quiet. Thank God for Dr Muyiwa, our marriage counsellor, who taught me something I would carry for the rest of my life: That real love is not always the thrill. Sometimes, love is choosing what is best for your family even when your emotions are silent.And I chose you and I’ll do it again and again. I had so many shortcomings, yet you carried them with grace. You forgave me in places where I did not deserve forgiveness. You stood beside me when I was difficult to stand beside. Of course, you were not an angel either. You know that, my silly woman. And I carried your shortcomings too. We carried each other.If I were given the chance to choose again, knowing everything I know now, knowing every difficult season, every disagreement, every tear, every quiet night, every beautiful morning, I would still choose you. Through it all. You have always been my most vulnerable partner. The person before whom I could put down every armour and simply be myself.You are probably wondering why I am saying all this now, aren’t you? I am wondering too. I do not know how I suddenly remember all these things through the dementia. Perhaps our love really did beat dementia after all. Perhaps even when my mind forgot my own name, it remembered you. Maybe that is what forty years of loving someone does. Rachel, I want you to carry our grandson for me. I want to see you hold him on my behalf. I am sure he will be handsome, just like our son, Daniel.Please forgive me my love, you may come to the hospital and I have forgotten you again. But always know this; I love you, Rachel. Your handsome man, Oluwasegun.

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