How We Got Here
"Two sides of the same coin—except one of us definitely has a better memory."
"I'd known Hafis for almost ten years before any of this. He was my brother's friend, and we were like background characters in each other's lives.
Then he moved off to Ottawa after graduation, and that's when he texted me out of nowhere on my birthday. We got to catching up, and suddenly he wouldn't stop calling, texting, and making up excuses to talk.
A few months in, he finally admitted he couldn't live without me and asked me to be his girlfriend. Honestly, I was just waiting for him to catch up to what I already knew.
Three years later, on our anniversary, he got down on one knee. I already knew my answer before he finished the question."
Na'asirah
Bride
"We’d been friends for years, but everything changed the first time we spoke on the phone after I moved away. From that day on, we were constantly on the phone until I clumsily dropped and broke my phone while treetop trekking in Vancouver.
A month of accidental silence later, the sheer excitement of finally fixing the phone and getting to talk to Na'asirah again made me realize I had fallen for her.
Weeks later on Thanksgiving, while giving thanks with friends for the people we hold closest, I suddenly realized where I wanted to be. I left dinner, went home, and asked her to be my girlfriend.
She calmly replied, “What took you so long?” And she was right."
Hafis
Groom
Na'asirah
The Reality
"I'd known Hafis for almost ten years before any of this. He was my brother's friend, and we were like background characters in each other's lives.
Then he moved off to Ottawa after graduation, and that's when he texted me out of nowhere on my birthday. We got to catching up, and suddenly he wouldn't stop calling, texting, and making up excuses to talk.
A few months in, he finally admitted he couldn't live without me and asked me to be his girlfriend. Honestly, I was just waiting for him to catch up to what I already knew.
Three years later, on our anniversary, he got down on one knee. I already knew my answer before he finished the question."
Na'asirah
Bride
Hafis
His Side
"We’d been friends for years, but everything changed the first time we spoke on the phone after I moved away. From that day on, we were constantly on the phone until I clumsily dropped and broke my phone while treetop trekking in Vancouver.
A month of accidental silence later, the sheer excitement of finally fixing the phone and getting to talk to Na'asirah again made me realize I had fallen for her.
Weeks later on Thanksgiving, while giving thanks with friends for the people we hold closest, I suddenly realized where I wanted to be. I left dinner, went home, and asked her to be my girlfriend.
She calmly replied, “What took you so long?” And she was right."
Hafis
Groom
