Beatrice Wambui has been through it all; from a marriage that never was, failing to thrive in America, that she even thought of committing suicide. However, she picked up her pieces
By Ann Wairimu @ann_wairimo
Like any bride, Beatrice Wambui hoped she would grow old with her husband. After all, her wedding day was one to remember. She had met her would-be husband at the University of Nairobi and could not wait to marry him. He was her best friend and they dated for five years.
However, things became different when they were planning for the wedding though she could not point exactly what was wrong. By this time, she had travelled to America to further her studies. So she travelled back to Kenya for her wedding hoping return to America with her husband afterwards as they had agreed.
“I call it ‘my nine hours of glory’ because my joy lasted up to the reception. The bridal party came to our apartment to give thanks and that is where I started losing my husband. We were supposed to be getting ready to go for our honeymoon, but instead he was busy with his friends,” she says.
As Christians, they had chosen to abstain from sex till marriage. “After we got to our honeymoon later on, nothing much went on. He said he was tired, never wanted much conversation or romance,” she says. Strange as it may sound, this marriage was never consummated. “He always gave excuses. He became indifferent,” Wambui adds.
“I was heartbroken, I had been waiting for the magical moment, but it never came,” she says. Wambui was devastated; the ‘happily ever after’ story had taken a sad twist. She needed a break. Her time to go back to America came. Her new husband could not travel to America because he did not get a visa. So, she flew back to the US, hoping he would join her, but that never came to be.
“Months turned into a year, then two and almost three years. We were talking and trying to have a way forward. I wanted to give our marriage a try, but he told me to move on because he already had done so,” she says. Wambui tried contacting him, but he never responded. The only answer she got was on Facebook. He had changed his status from ‘married’ to ‘in a relationship’. He also had pictures of the new girlfriend. “Later on, he went to my maternal home and dissolved the marriage in a customary way,” she says. However, she was in denial until when her husband’s girlfriend delivered a son. She knew there was no turning back.
Meanwhile, life was not easy for Wambui in America. She had to work and study at the same time. When things became so hard she had to quit school. She failed in her nursing programme. Jobs were not easy to come by. She actually sold chapatis and mandazis to survive. Later on, she learnt to make clothes and jewellery. “I couldn’t keep a job, I just wanted to be alone, yet I had to meet my needs and bills,” she says.
She was devastated and even contemplated suicide. Her turning point came one day when she looked her image in water. It was a beautiful aura from the reflecting evening sun. “Later on, I went back to my apartment and in front of the mirror I wiped my tears. I was not going to cry anymore, I was willing to fight for my life,” she says. To chronicle her journey, Wambui has written two books: Picking up the Pieces and Piecing the Pieces which she launched two weeks ago at Neema Church in Dallas, Texas.
Her books are an 80-day reflective journal.-mediamaxnetwork.co.ke/peopledaily
The post My nine hours of glory, Beatrice Wambui formerly of Dallas narrates on lost husband, suicide bid appeared first on Jambonewspot.
