How we met - Annie
I remember wearing a red dress and some small white heels. I was 10 years old, and my mom had just let me wear my first lip gloss. We had come to town for a wedding in Nashville. I had always liked to go to Nashville to visit our friends that I knew from the refugee camp.
Three boys kept talking about me during the wedding, and I didn't understand why. They would gather together, come close to me, laugh, and leave. Alex was wearing a white collared shirt with khaki pants and brown shoes. He was the cutest boy at the wedding. But I didn't understand why he and his two friends kept talking about me.
After the wedding, we came back home to Atlanta. A few days later, I started to get phone calls on our house phone. Yes, we still had house phones. This was in 2000. My parents would answer the phone and bring it to me. Guess who was on the phone?
Yup! Alex and his friends. They wanted me to choose between them. They asked me to choose which boy I liked more!!! They were so mean, they gave me an ultimatum. I ended up choosing one of the other two friends….Alex didn't talk to me until years later.
It was not until around 2003 or 2004 that we connected again. He would write to me via email, and we would check in on each other that way. It was not something constant; it was like a once in a while time thing.
In 2008, I received a call from Japan. Alex had called me to wish me a Happy 18th Birthday. We talked for a little bit. I was thrilled to hear his voice, and it made me feel so special that he remembered my birthday and thought of calling me from Japan.
I didn't hear from him again until we saw each other in 2009 at "Duteramane." We drove down to Dallas, TX, with our cousins. We were excited to meet other Burundians and finally hear Big Fizzo live. They had flown him in from Burundi. Alex did not talk to me much at this event; it was very awkward. I could tell that he was feeling himself. He had just gotten back from the Marines, and all the Burundian and Rwandan girls were all over him and his big muscles. HAHA. I didn't pay him any mind….I did …but I didn't let him notice.
The following year, he sent me a message on Facebook, and we stayed in touch from there. It wasn't until 2015 that we decided to take each other seriously.
