The very first time I set my eyes on Temmy was many years ago at a mutual family friend's house in Nigeria. I remember that day so clearly, it was a Sunday afternoon, after church, a usual random family visit to eat Jollof. I was 9 years old, and Temmy was 11 at the time. Our parents were discussing about myself and my brother, Daniel attending a boarding school. Coincidentally, Temmy and his sister, Titi attended a boarding school. They recommend their school, my parents did their research, and months later my brother and I found ourselves at CRISSA (Christ Redeemers International Secondary School, Akure).
Titi became my school mother, and Temmy automatically professed himself as my school father. He was so fond of me, and would literally fight any mosquito that tried to bite me lol. I didn’t understand why at the time, but I was sure “senior Temmy” was a correct, proper guy. I mean, he was the accurate timekeeper for the school (literally the person who rings the bell at 5 am every day to wake up the entire school)… Very punctual, neat, intelligent young man. 3 years later after I started attending CRISSA, Temmy and I relocated to Ireland and the states, respectively. We kept in touch over the years and so did our families. Most importantly, Temmy and I chatted quite frequently via Facebook, we had a thing for each other, but we were too young to make anything of it, and the distance definitely made it impossible to pursue a serious relationship, so we left it and just remained platonic friends.
Fast forward to 2014, Temmy hit me up that he was coming to America for a conference. Temmy was completing his PhD at the time and had annual conferences with ARVO (Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology) at different cities in America. This particular ARVO conference happened to be in Orlando, where I was working, after graduating college. I was super excited to see him after 11 years! On his last night in Orlando, we stayed up almost the whole night reminiscing on our friendship and caught up on each other’s lives post-CRISSA. It was such a beautiful moment, which made saying goodbye so hard, especially not knowing when we would get to see each other again. Temmy and I literally talked every day after that trip. He wouldn’t stop texting and calling, I couldn’t stop replying and answering lol. Our friendship was so fluid and easy. Temmy made a great friend, a very consistent, supportive, patient, funny, goofy, easy-going, and genuinely kind person.
We kept talking like normal until one-day Temmy said to me “Stay with me forever”. I thought it was the cutest thing, but I had to ask several times what he just said like is that even how you ask someone out? Haha. I was still doing shakara (playing hard to get) and told him he was way too far, and I had to think and pray about it. Eventually, we started our long-distance relationship with scheduled visits to see each other. People often ask us how we were able to maintain a long-distance relationship for so many years. Honestly, we would have to write a book, or maybe give a TedTalk to answer this question in full detail, so watch this space lol. But the short answer is that it worked for us. We both knew we wanted to be with each other, we trusted each other and prayerfully worked it out. We developed a greater affection for each other through our friendship and numerous conversations, man Temmy can taaaaalkkkkk lol... No one else can keep me on the phone for as long as he does and make me laugh as hard as he does, but I love it, I love Him. He has the best laugh, the best smile, always looking dapper, my “smashing bobo”. He’s super smart and very supportive of my career. He always challenges me to work harder and dream bigger. Temmy’s love for God is so pure and admirable. He is a respectful and generous gentleman that will put anyone before himself. I’m so thankful that God led our paths to cross and made us specially for each other. Baby, it was always YOU, our love was always meant to be. I pray that He that has brought us this far and orchestrated our perfect love story will not leave us. This is just the beginning of the best days of our lives, and I absolutely cannot wait to spend forever with you!
Well, this love story all started way way back when we were in school. I was 11 and Mofi was 9 years old. Mofi’s parents had reached out to my folks for school recommendation, and my parents being the best “wingman and wing woman” suggested my school. Right from the moment I set my eyes on her at school, I knew Mofi was the one...haha clearly that’s a lie!! Nah, Mofi and I had a warm introduction and I quickly took the unsolicited responsibility of being her other “brother”.
Fast forward many years later, I relocated to Ireland and Mofi to Florida. We stayed in touch and engaged in random chats over the phone and via Facebook. As fate would have it, in 2014 during graduate school, I found out I’d be attending a scientific research conference in Orlando. As you can imagine, I was super excited about the prospect of reconnecting with Mofi after over a decade. I quickly reached out to her and made arrangements to see her. Fortunately for me, my birthday fell around my visit, so this was an added incentive to get Mofi to come out.
Of course, she was equally as excited as I was (maybe even more excited ha!), so we celebrated my birthday together along with my other buddies from Ireland. After the conference, I opted to spend my last 3 days to “explore” Orlando, and as it’s customary for all exploration - a tour guide is needed. Yup, you guessed right, Mofi was mine (pun intended). Our time hanging out together was amazing as we spent the entire weekend reminiscing about our childhood.
Mofi and I were in no denial, we could tell feelings were developing and this made going back to Ireland very hard. Upon my return to Ireland, Mofi and I maintained contact and continued to speak every day. Mofi and I began our relationship. Our feelings for each other indicated that nothing could get in our way, not even distance...and the product of that is where we are today.
I consider it a huge blessing that I get to marry my childhood sweetheart and without a doubt, the most beautiful and amazing woman. I’m forever grateful to God that I get to do life with my best friend. We’ve been blessed with the best 6 years together and never has there been a dull moment with Mofi. In Mofi, I have a woman who brings out the best in me, one who is always willing to put my needs before hers. By far my favorite trait about Mofi is her ability to invest her passion in everything she does, irrespective of the magnitude. Having this passion directed at following Christ is definitely something I (and our kids) will forever be grateful for. Quite simply, you’ll never find anyone with so much passion. Her sense of humor and banter is one that compliments mine perfectly. You can just picture the banter we have and will continue to have together. I’m super excited to marry my layyydayyy!!
In the Summer of 2019, Mofi had an alternative medicine course in Thailand. Temmy decided he would like to join Mofi for the final week of the course and make a vacation out of it. In Mofi’s mind, Temmy just had FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), but was excited Temmy was going to join her since they both enjoy traveling and exploring the world together. During the buildup to this particular trip, Temmy had planted in Mofi’s head for weeks that a friend of his (Oyinkan, or Owy as they like to call her) was also going to be in Thailand as well. Of course to Mofi, this seemed like such a “interesting coincidence”, but she believed it because Owy is that one friend that would randomly call you and tell you she is in Singapore today and Zanzibar tomorrow.
As part of this MASTER PLAN, he also mentioned that since Owy’s 30th birthday was coming up, she would like Mofi to do a photoshoot of her at Railay Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in Thailand- If you didn’t know, Mofi is a pretty awesome photographer, so this was a perfect distractor because she couldn’t stop thinking about Owys photoshoot. Owy messaged Mofi to make the same photoshoot request, making the story even more believable to Mofi. As Mofi would have it, she started planning this amazing photoshoot and worked out all the logistics, packed her camera bag the night before, charged her camera battery, checked the weather forecast, 7am sunrise shoot, boat ride, etc. What a perfect day for Owy’s photoshoot, she thought. As you’ve probably guessed at this point, there was NO photoshoot for Owy. She never showed up to Thailand nor was she supposed to lol.
The only photoshoot that happened was the one during proposal that Temmy planned himself! Can you believe he put on his creative hat and planned for a professional freelance photographer from thailand (who was disguised as a tourist on the same boat ride) to capture this awesome moment? Despite the utter confusion on Mofi’s face, her continuous question “Where’s Owy??”, and the ultimate surprise, Temmy got on one knee and asked Mofi if she would make him the happiest man, by spending the rest of her life with him. Mofi said YES to her best friend, soul mate and God’s perfectly handcrafted gift to her.