He made me best man
They say a good friend is a mirror of you. I have been blessed over the years to have some wonderful friends. I also consider you reading this blog a friend even if I might not know you personally. We are all descendant of big old Noah and whether you like it or not, we are commanded to love one another. I do not believe in accidental meetings, so I'd say I meet all my friends as planned.
I know it is not nice to separate your friends because everyone contributes to your life different attributes, but I beg to be forgiven for this one time. Francis Githaiga stands out. He made me a best man. I don't know if he made a best man out of me or he made a man best. Confusing isn't. That said how did that happen?
We meet in the City of London back in the mid 90s. Apart from the normal Kikuyu signs written on all of us, he seemed to have some patience on him. He hails from the west of the Rift in Molo. Having seen a few of them from that area now, I'm starting to wonder if the patience comes from the fact that they only have one farming season, which means they have to wait a whole year to harvest. You have to be patient! We from Central? We always seem to be in hurry.
We hit it off very quickly and soon we were patrolling the streets of the Queens City like natives of Peckham. I always like to think we were like Batman and Robin....lol.. He introduced me to Chinese food. I first hated the smell of Teriyaki in the rice. He'd order some take-away as we headed to his flat somewhere behind Walworth Road. The first time I ate mushrooms, it felt like I was chewing pieces of rubber. A dip down the sauce and they started to taste like chicken liver. I also took him to a Greek restaurant where we broke some plates. Our friendship was cemented after numerous house parties at his sister Regina's high-rise flat .
Then he decided to get married to Mary Ann. He did not ask me to be his best man. He told me during one of many walks down the streets of South East London, as if I did not have a right to say no. If you have never been a best man, they say it's like being asked to kiss the Queen mother. But to me, it felt like being asked to serve the King. I was so honored I'd do it again even for pretense.
We did a small wending just as we had planned. Batman and Robin could do anything. We had black suits and I have to admit I felt really good. Then we went for pictures at Greenwich Park, right on the Meridian Line. At the reception, I was free to say and do whatever I wanted, being best man. A did the toast thing and met another young friend of mine Njoroge Mwaniki who had just arrive from Kenya.
I have been honored many times in life, like when I myself got hitched, or when my son was born and I had to cut the umbilical cord (I'd have eaten it if the offered it to me like they do now), but being best man stands right next to them. Two beautiful daughters down the road, I think of the Githaigas and feel proud and honored to have been the Best man when the two became one and then three and then four. You can have many friends in life but best man? You are lucky to have been one.
PS
Some of my friends down the years includes: my friend John Kihiu from early childhood who used to roll me down the hill in a huge tire, my high school buddy John Gicharu who we used to sneak out to the market with, Nelson Maina with whom Kajiando Town at night was like Hollywood, John Kimani who made me hate Nairobi for my own good, Tyson Kimani who taught me in Greece that you can struggle to live to people’s expectations and still have a good heart and a wonderful group of friends here, from Francis Mwai with his delicious barbecue,( Did I tell you he is back from that procedure? He came out a vegetarian: talking of high and low cholesterol and eating green raw stuff and vengeance for gear boxes) Paul Mbugua, Peter Mbono , George Kahacho who thinks I'm too thrifty, Gikanga, Githongo, Mwaura, Paul Kiiru the teacher, Mahinda and many others.
I know it is not nice to separate your friends because everyone contributes to your life different attributes, but I beg to be forgiven for this one time. Francis Githaiga stands out. He made me a best man. I don't know if he made a best man out of me or he made a man best. Confusing isn't. That said how did that happen?
We meet in the City of London back in the mid 90s. Apart from the normal Kikuyu signs written on all of us, he seemed to have some patience on him. He hails from the west of the Rift in Molo. Having seen a few of them from that area now, I'm starting to wonder if the patience comes from the fact that they only have one farming season, which means they have to wait a whole year to harvest. You have to be patient! We from Central? We always seem to be in hurry.
We hit it off very quickly and soon we were patrolling the streets of the Queens City like natives of Peckham. I always like to think we were like Batman and Robin....lol.. He introduced me to Chinese food. I first hated the smell of Teriyaki in the rice. He'd order some take-away as we headed to his flat somewhere behind Walworth Road. The first time I ate mushrooms, it felt like I was chewing pieces of rubber. A dip down the sauce and they started to taste like chicken liver. I also took him to a Greek restaurant where we broke some plates. Our friendship was cemented after numerous house parties at his sister Regina's high-rise flat .
Then he decided to get married to Mary Ann. He did not ask me to be his best man. He told me during one of many walks down the streets of South East London, as if I did not have a right to say no. If you have never been a best man, they say it's like being asked to kiss the Queen mother. But to me, it felt like being asked to serve the King. I was so honored I'd do it again even for pretense.
We did a small wending just as we had planned. Batman and Robin could do anything. We had black suits and I have to admit I felt really good. Then we went for pictures at Greenwich Park, right on the Meridian Line. At the reception, I was free to say and do whatever I wanted, being best man. A did the toast thing and met another young friend of mine Njoroge Mwaniki who had just arrive from Kenya.
I have been honored many times in life, like when I myself got hitched, or when my son was born and I had to cut the umbilical cord (I'd have eaten it if the offered it to me like they do now), but being best man stands right next to them. Two beautiful daughters down the road, I think of the Githaigas and feel proud and honored to have been the Best man when the two became one and then three and then four. You can have many friends in life but best man? You are lucky to have been one.
PS
Some of my friends down the years includes: my friend John Kihiu from early childhood who used to roll me down the hill in a huge tire, my high school buddy John Gicharu who we used to sneak out to the market with, Nelson Maina with whom Kajiando Town at night was like Hollywood, John Kimani who made me hate Nairobi for my own good, Tyson Kimani who taught me in Greece that you can struggle to live to people’s expectations and still have a good heart and a wonderful group of friends here, from Francis Mwai with his delicious barbecue,( Did I tell you he is back from that procedure? He came out a vegetarian: talking of high and low cholesterol and eating green raw stuff and vengeance for gear boxes) Paul Mbugua, Peter Mbono , George Kahacho who thinks I'm too thrifty, Gikanga, Githongo, Mwaura, Paul Kiiru the teacher, Mahinda and many others.
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