WHAT is the right age for a man to get married?
Whatever your view may be, Ohhenechovwen Mathew ( not real name) was almost 40 years old but was yet to be married. All his younger ones ( male and female) were already married but he remain a bachelor. Every effort to make him get married failed. His mother had called him by the side to encourage and appeal to him to get married, but her advice fell on deaf ear.
At a time, his not getting married became an issue to his parents and relatives. One day a mini family meeting was summoned for his sake where the issue of not wanting to get married was discussed at length. At the end of the meeting, he promised the family members that he was going to get married soon. But, how soon that was going to be was known to only him. One, two years passed by, and the issue of marriage did not bother him.
Today you’ll find him in a company of girlfriend “A”, tomorrow; he is with girlfriend “B”. But, a day of decision to get married came. Members of his family had gather at his father’s house for a meeting which was nomally held at the end of every year: The meeting had started and the time came for his father to pray for the entire family members to usher in the New Year. Being the oldest man in the family, he prayed over the drinks with a bottle of hot drink in his right hand.
As if it was planned by his father, when the time came to share the drinks, first to the elders of the family, his father asked, as demand by tradition, “Who is the youngest man here, get up and serve the drink to this family. For one minute, there was dead silence in the big palour. Oghenechovwen, his older and younger ones who were all married were there, but no one uttere a word. All of a sudden, to the surprise of all present, his father, clearing his throat, said “Oghenechovwen, get up and serve us the drink, you are the youngest man here” Oghenechovwen stood up in anger.
Anyanwu Amarachi
