A random day in China with some of our closest friends is what it was meant to be. Instead it ended up being a story I will be relating to people forever... It goes something like this.
We had arrived in Guangzhou the night before so were ready to take on touring the city. We had just enjoyed a good hotel breakfast and fooled by the air conditioning, Lefase and I were dressed in slightly warmer sweaters than the warm humid air outside required. In a quick dash upstairs we left the boys waiting to secure us a taxi expecting them to use some sort of broken english in an attempt to navigate our way through the city.
Now I suppose this is where you would expect me to lead you through a days activity of romantic gestures that would follow me through Guangzhou's quaint but smelly nooks and crannies, that my very romantic person had set out in a build up to the proposal. Well No. That's not how the story goes. Actually as soon as Lefase and I arrived back downstairs, Siso could not contain himself as he dropped to his knee and jumped straight to the question, "will you marry me?" No recital of any song or poem or long winded recap of any turbulent history which would now turn into ever lasting love. Nope. Right there, at no significant point in time or at any significant touristy love memorial, my person declared the front door of the Holiday Inn Guangzhou city center a monument of love forever. Well at least for the two of us.
Of course, being the person I am, I didn't make this any easier for him. I didn't breakdown in tears or shout in elation, rather, I screeched with laughter... yes, I laughed. I still am not sure why and cannot give you a definitive answer, perhaps it was the shock and confusion of which I feel I was most entitled to, given that nothing about the situation produced any forewarning or inkling that this activity was about to take place. Perhaps it was my disbelief that Sibusiso had not booked a restaurant or gone to any extravagant means and yet I was the happiest person in China at that moment, and I mean there are a lot of people in China! Perhaps it was that he managed to keep this from me for who knows how long. It doesn't actually matter because the point is, I laughed till eventually he looked up at me with a very concerned expression as asked "so is that a yes?" To his relief (and everyone else) it was.
He put the most beautiful, dainty ring on my finger and we got into two separate taxis. While being driven through the extremely bustling streets of this foreign country I couldn't help but replay what had just happened over and over in my mind. Reiterating that it was real.It felt like the whole world knew what had just happened, it felt like I was walking with my left hand in the air and everyone who passed would congratulate us.
Every time I looked down at my ring, I realised just how well this man knows me. He let his nerves take over and made the decision not to follow through with his intent to ask me at the end of our holiday in what would probably have been a beautiful romantic setting in Hong Kong, because at the back of his mind he knew that this particular setting was so us- it was spontaneous and romantic without any of the pretense. No nails or hair did, no fantastic outfit or meal. Just us in one of our realist moments. With Vuyo, Lefase and Squinzo there to witness and celebrate it all with us. I mean who would we have recapped the story with if not for them? Who would have given us any back story about how Vuyo refused to hang on to the ring in case Lefase found it and thought it was for her? or how Siso decided that the moment had arrived only seconds before?
Siso and I were engaged in the most random place, in the most random moment that was such a truthful depiction of who we are.
18 months later we got married. In a very detailed and planned ceremony and shared the day with many more of our closest people. Of course we could never let such a day pass without some randomness of its own. A story for another day.
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