Happy

Mrs. Okafor got married in 2003 in Enugu. She and her husband, Mr. Okafor, were very close. They used to gist till 1am. They used to go out every Friday. Then the children came. Three of them. Mrs. Okafor changed everything. Her husband would come home from work and say, "Honey, how are you?" She would say, "Don't disturb me, I am feeding the baby." He would say, "Let's go out this weekend." She would say, "We can't. The children have lesson. The children need this. The children need that." Every money went to the children. Every decision was about the children. Every night, she slept in the children's room because the children wanted her there. Her husband slept alone for 10 years. Mr. Okafor complained once. He said, "You have forgotten me." Mrs. Okafor shouted, "Are you competing with your own children? A good mother puts her children first! My children are my life!" He went quiet and stopped complaining. The children grew up. The first one got admission to university in UK in 2021. The second one got married in 2023 and moved to Canada. The last one left for Lagos in 2024 to start work. The house became empty. Mrs. Okafor came back to the sitting room one night and looked at her husband. She did not know him again. They had nothing to talk about. They had no jokes. They had no friendship. She had spent 20 years building her children, and 0 years building her marriage. Last month, she told her sister, "My children have left. My husband is a stranger. I am lonely in my own house." Her sister told her, "You raised your children to leave. But you forgot to keep the man that was supposed to stay."