4 Classmates Surprise Friend at Wedding 20 Years Later 

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An undated photo of a wedding venue at a Kenyan church
File

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship, but the inspiration that comes with the discovery and assurance that someone believes in you. 

These are the words of American poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

When I received the news that my university classmate, Alex, was getting married in Thika, I couldn’t help but smile. Alex, the one and only Alex. I laughed so much that my eyes were all teary.

I laughed, not because I was ridiculing his decision to join a matrimonial union, but because I remembered how funny he was, dancing in class during lectures. How he’d get mad and do all the group work when we submitted our work late. How he came up with business ideas when our Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) funds were delayed. 

Alex. I had never seen him in 20 years since we graduated with bachelors degrees in Political Science. 

 

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An undated photo of a wedding convoy in Kenya
File

“Jonah…We should attend this wedding,” Nick told me as we ended the phone call. 

Jonah! No one had called me by my nickname in such a long time. The name’s Jonathan. Nick notified two other friends, Ezra and Chris, and we came together to plan a wedding surprise for Alex. 

“The wedding has no restrictions whatsoever. The best thing is that it is not an invite-only event,” Chris stated as we sat in an uptown restaurant. 

The four of us always met from time to time in the city save for Alex whom we lost track of after our graduation party. His last post on social media was five years ago. 

Nick and Ezra worked with communication firms, Chris ran his own firm, while I ventured into large scale farming and exporting food products to the West. Alex, I heard, was a public relations specialist. 

On the morning of the wedding day, Nick wore a light grey suit, Chris - a navy blue twill suit. Ezra looked nothing short of dapper in a classic black three-piece suit. I was the last to arrive at our meeting point in Nairobi, dressed in a soft suit waistcoat in Dusty Lilac-Purple. 

To bond further and create ideas on how we would surprise Alex, we all agreed that Nick would drive us down Thika Road as we reminisced our good old days, spoke of our families, wives and businesses. 

“But what ideas do we have or are we going to bump in and announce ourselves as the four musketeers?” Nick asked as he raced his Volkswagen ID.4 down the highway. 

We all muttered a few ideas, argued, laughed, and rejected others. I thought it would be funny if we jumped into the matching line and created confusion. You should have seen the stare on the boys’ faces.  

“No. No guys. What if I stand up when the priest asks who opposes this marriage?” Ezra added as we slapped him on the back and threatened to throw him out of the car and laughed about it. We all looked like young boys despite all of us being in our early 40s. 

Nick pulled the car outside the wedding venue one hour later. We all looked at each other quietly, emotions were visible on everyone’s faces. This was a huge call. 

The venue was decorated impressively with lots of lights, candles and flowers. The wedding colours were white and violet, so some guests were either wearing the two or both. 

Alex weds Gloria, these words were imprinted on the entry. The couple had settled for a classic wedding. Their style steered away from over-the-top trends and flashy details, opting instead for a perfectly coordinated aesthetic with decor that is chic and refined.

We were ushered in, watched the two glorious individuals walk down the aisle, listened to the priest and waited for the vows. 

“When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew… I chose you from the millions as you are the most amazing woman I know. A great marriage is not when the ‘perfect couple’ comes together. It is when we, imperfect couples, learn to enjoy our differences. I will love and respect you forever,” Alex stated. Chris wiped tears from his eyes. 

“I will tell my wife those words over and over again…” Chris stated. 

Gloria the bride. She was beautiful. That charming smile and that pose when holding Alex's left hand, ready to put the ring on it. 

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An undated photo of a wedding venue in Nairobi
File

 

“There is no remedy for love but to love you more. Being deeply loved by you gives me strength while loving you deeply gives me courage,” she stated and both said: “I do”. 

This was the part where we were to interrupt the wedding. However, we noticed that Chris was missing from the venue and this alerted us. 

“Same old Chris… He left his phone right here. Now, where is this guy? Delaying us once again,” Ezra lamented. 

“Reminds me of when we went to Mombasa for our tour in our third year of study and the bus had to wait for him for two hours as he had gone to seek an audience with an MP. We found him locked outside the MP's office’s gate, haaa! Nick added. 

“We should proceed without him. We will miss this part,” a visibly agitated Ezra suggested. However, I interrupted and decided we should split on a ‘search party’.

I found him storytelling with the bride’s driver, leaning on a Mercedes Benz as if he owned the whole world. 

“Bro. We are searching for you under every grass and wine glass yet you are hanging out under the sun as if you are at the beach,” I vented. 

“Relax Jonah. I found out something interesting talking to this chauffeur here,” he replied as Nick and Ezra closed in. 

“It better not be something shallow. We just missed out on surprising Alex,” Ezra cautioned. 

“Tell them my big discovery,” Chris told the chauffeur. 

Guys, Netflix!!” the driver stated. 

“What about Netflix?” we asked in unison. 

“Netflix launched a free plan in Kenya where we can all sign up for free. The free plan allows you to enjoy Netflix ad-free on Android mobile phones in Kenya. When you sign up, no payment information is required.” 

“All you have to do is enter your email, confirm you are 18 or over and create a password. Then you can sit back and watch many of Netflix’s most popular series and films, as well as enjoy their personalized recommendations, parental controls, and profiles (including kids),” the chauffeur disclosed. 

He further explained that at Netflix, one can enjoy the suspense of Blood & Water, the romance of Bridgerton, and the adventure of Army of the Dead — completely free of charge. And if you like what you see, it’s easy to upgrade to one of Netflix’s paid plans/subscriptions so that you can enjoy their full catalogue on your TV or laptop as well.

Ezra and I had this irresistible impulse to reach out to our phones. Nick and I had Netflix accounts, Ezra and Chris didn’t. They immediately signed up. 

“I told you, boys. Didn’t I. This is a lifetime discovery. Wait till you see the reaction on my kids and wife’s faces,” Chris stated with his trademark grin while stroking his beard like the Buddhist master "Shīfu" who felt some sense of self-gratification after teaching monks a new Art of War technique. 

“This is amazing,” Nick stated but added that Chris owed us a round of beer despite the discovery as he had quite delayed us. 

“You’ll remember me, folks…” Chris muttered as we dragged him into the lawn for the reception. “We are not late with the surprise…” he complained as we laughed and found our way straight to the podium. 

The church was surprised. Some thought this was a script by the bridegroom as the emcee had announced that Alex was set to dance for Gloria. At over 40, it was hard to fathom Alex dancing. Which style… Shaku or Rhumba…An energetic, smooth, cute, or wild dance… we didn’t know. All we cared about was that the church would find out later as the four musketeers had taken over the stage. 

The surprise on Alex’s face was interesting. The wedding schedule changed. 

Chris seized the microphone and started singing a classic pop we all used to sing at the campus before we all introduced ourselves and cracked jokes about how funny Alex used to make us laugh. 

“Can we get a video copy of the vows or will it be on Netflix for free?” Chris asked Alex after the wedding and before he presented our Ksh2 million cheque gift.” 

“This guy seems like he just discovered Netflix has a free plan in Kenya today,” Alex stated as we looked at him in bewilderment.

“You knew!” The four of us, Chris, Ezra, Nick and I wondered as Alex laughed and pulled us together for a photo and nearly broke down saying how he had missed us. 

"You guys will never cease to amaze me. 20 years and you still look this young and funny…" 

"We want to meet the bride," Nick interrupted, "and to listen to all the stories," he added. 

"After the honeymoon boys," Gloria the bride stated and smiled at us. 

That bewitching smile…

A convoy at a wedding in Kenya
An undated photo of hire vehicles at a wedding in Kenya
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