Their are certain moments that make you suddenly realise that you are getting older and it is definitely not because you are getting older, but because the people you grew up with start doing things you never thought would happen so soon and it reminds you that it all happens in a flash and life is truly short. That was exactly how I felt when one of my university friends got married. Somehow, out of all of us, he became the first one to take that huge step.
It was honestly a strange feeling seeing him as a groom. This was the same guy I had spent years with in university, someone I had laughed with, argued with, shared random conversations with and watched struggle through assignments and exams. Back then, marriage felt like something that belonged to the distant future. We would joke about who would be the first to get married, but it was always just a joke. Then suddenly, the joke became reality, and we were all standing there watching one of our own begin a completely new chapter of his life.
The wedding itself was beautiful, but one of the best parts for me was seeing old university friends again. Life after university has a funny way of scattering people. Everyone gets busy with work, family, businesses and whatever else life throws at them. We keep saying, “We need to link up,” but somehow months become years. So seeing people I had not seen in a long time was almost as exciting as the wedding itself.
The moment we started talking, it felt like we had never really been apart. We went straight back to the old university stories. Somebody would mention one thing and suddenly another memory would come up. We laughed about things that probably weren't even that funny anymore, but they were funny because of the memories attached to them. There is something special about meeting people who knew you before adulthood became so complicated.
Of course, we couldn't have a proper reunion without football. In honour of the groom, we organised a small football competition and yes, the groom himself decided that he was going to play. That changed the entire game. Normally, if he had the ball, you would close him down, challenge him and do whatever was necessary to win. But this time, everybody suddenly became very gentle. Nobody wanted to be responsible for the groom showing up to his wedding with a twisted ankle, a bruised leg or anything that would make his wedding pictures look like he had just returned from a battlefield. So whenever he got the ball, people started giving him space.
The funny thing was that the groom wasn't interested in any special treatment. He wanted to play properly. He was running around, chasing the ball and trying to score while everyone else was secretly calculating how to defend him without actually touching him. It made the whole thing even funnier. Eventually, the match became less about who won and more about enjoying ourselves. We were laughing, shouting, arguing over fouls and behaving exactly like we used to. For those few hours, nobody cared about jobs, responsibilities or whatever stage of life we were currently in. We were just a bunch of university friends playing football again.
That was probably my favourite part of the whole experience. It reminded me that friendships can survive distance and time. Then came the wedding day itself, and seeing our friend standing there as a married man was another reminder that life is moving whether we are ready for it or not. The guy who once sat with us in university, worrying about exams and what he would do after graduation, was now starting a family.
I was genuinely happy for him, but I also found myself thinking about how quickly everything had changed. Congratulations to my friend. He may be the first one among us to get married, but judging by the way everyone was looking around during the wedding, I have a feeling he won't be the last for very long.