I have always been a nature lover from childhood but I didn't grow up in an environment that valued the presence of beautiful gardens which happens to be my favorite part of nature. There were different abandoned farmland with tall trees and grasses which satisfied my craving for hanging out with nature.
We chased rabbits into the bush, played with butterflies even though we were threats, pluck fruits and everything was beautiful. It was enough because I never had the chance to spend some time in a real garden and when I finally did my craving for hanging out with nature changed.
I began to demand something more, I always walked about 45 minutes on Saturdays just to sit in a school garden that was always open on weekends. Rather than join my mates to play, I always sat admiring things and thinking about the future.
My real connection with nature began from there and its effect on me increased as I grew older.
My first day on the campus ground in the higher institution was full of excitement, I got into the premises and was wowed at the beautiful presence of nature. There were tall trees that served as shades for students and the grass was perfect to lay on for me. There were beautiful flowers of different colors and they made me fall in love with the school environment immediately.
I walked around the school after my documentation just to see the beautiful spots there and chose to relax under one of those trees to enjoy my snacks.
When lectures began days after, the tree became my study and rest point. It is the first place my classmates will check whenever I wasn't in the class and they needed my attention.
We finished lecture one fateful afternoon and one of the students started talking about blood groups, he stated the characteristics of different types and after checking everything he said about my blood group, it was correct.
I took my phone to do more findings about the blood group thing and decided to go out because the class was hot.
I noticed someone was at my usual spot which rarely happens. It was my female classmate so I went there to join her and after exchanging pleasantries briefly since we weren't close, I continued reading.
"Hello", I waved at her after I finished reading just to get her attention since she had a headset on.
She removed the headset and turned to me.
"Sorry to bother you, please what's your blood group?", I asked.
She gave this weird smile and probably thought I was coming up with a pickup line before she responded.
I read out the characteristics of her blood group to know if she was experiencing any and she said, yes.
She wanted to leave immediately so I asked for her name and told her mine as well.
We met in class later and I tried saying hello but she was always looking away like she didn't want anything to do with me.
"What's that your name again?", this was the question she asked whenever I tried starting a conversation and I had to stop trying to be her friend.
I stopped but we always met under the tree and while I bury my head in my book, she always listened to music.
"Do you know this music?", I asked her sometime later in the garden.
She collected my earphones, listened to the song, and smiled.
"It's one of my favorites", she replied.
"Wow, that's cool", I replied laughing like a kid.
I didn't know what to say next so I just kept quiet but she broke the silence later.
"Why do you always sit here whenever we don't have lectures?", she asked.
"I find peace here, it is easier to assimilate and I have a strong connection with nature", I replied.
"It is always quiet here truly, I always leave the class to study because my grades aren't good but I can't concentrate", she replied.
I felt her spirit was down so I tried cheering her first before anything else.
"If you don't mind, we can always study together here", I replied after becoming a motivational speaker for a few minutes.
"Yes, I will be grateful if you can help me get better. I am sorry I have been pretending not to see you all this while, the friends I have kept here aren't helping so I just want to be alone", she explained the reason behind the attitude towards me and it was understandable.
The smile on her face at that time was priceless and nature embraced us completely. She was able to find peace in nature and utilized it to study.
We were just study mates and as time passed, we started growing feelings for each other.
After another semester, there was a lot of improvement in her CGPA and it made more students want to study with me.
It took me eight months to tell her how I felt about her since the first hello and to make it perfect, I asked her out under the same tree in the same garden and that was the beginning of our journey to forever.
We have been happy together and I always believe that nature intentionally brought us together.