Yasmine and Mohamed - A Healthy Balance

Issue 72 September 2010

Despite finding marriage a challenge initially, Mohamed and Yasmine found a healthy balance and now have a two year old son, Yusuf.

Yasmine 

I was first introduced to Mohamed by his sister and one of my friends, five years ago. We met in a restaurant in Cairo, and my first impression of him was that he wasn’t my type at all! However, on our second meeting, Mohamed seemed like a changed person, and at this point I wasn’t at all sure about my feelings towards him. We soon began to talk a lot more, and he made some visits to my house with his mother, who’d had a chance to meet me and my family. By that time, I was confident that Mohamed was going to be a major figure in my life. Two months after getting to know one another, Mohamed and I were engaged. 

In Egypt, weddings are a grand event. With so much energy, time and effort going into sorting out invitations, the food and venue, Mohamed and I were no doubt under a lot of pressure. It was a difficult journey to the big day, as both of our families differed greatly when it came to wedding preparations, which often led to a lot of tension between them. However, the wedding went on without a glitch, with a beautiful service and hundreds of guests to see us married off. It was a moment I’d been waiting for my whole life. Despite my excitement, though, I knew that the following day would mark the start of my life’s biggest test.

With the grace of God, Mohamed and I have been married for three years and have a two year old son, Yusuf. Though our life together has been happy so far, every marriage has its ups and downs and Mohamed and I have encountered some along the way. After our wedding, we’d quarrel all the time about where to take our vacations; whilst I would want to visit my own home to be with my family, Mohamed wasn’t used to their company and so wanted to be with his own parents. But after talking about our differences, Mohamed and I have learnt to deal with our vacations in a fairer way, with both of us celebrating an occasion each with both our families. Now, in the third year of our marriage, Mohamed is a lot more confident around my parents, making it a lot easier for the both of us when we go to visit them.

Mohamed and I have very different personalities. I’m best described as an active, friendly and very sociable person, whilst Mohamed is a far quieter, more reserved and traditional individual. At first, it seemed that our personality clashes would see the better of us, but marriage is a learning process and both of us have grown to accept and compliment one another’s qualities. Early on, I could barely tolerate Mohamed’s addiction to football, but he soon got me to sit down to watch it and love it as much as he does! 

If there is anything I’ve learnt about myself throughout this experience is that I do, admittedly, have a difficult personality, but Mohamed has done a great job in putting up with it. He is a kind, respectable man, and I am incredibly grateful for having someone like him in my life.  

Mohamed

Yasmine and I first met when my sister introduced us in 2005. I found Yasmine to be a very friendly and bubbly person, and it was within the first few times that we met that I knew Yasmine was the girl I wanted to marry. 

Yasmine and I were engaged for about a year before we got married. The wedding was a very stressful time for all of us. It was hectic a lot of the time, and though I wanted a simple wedding with our close friends and family, it ended up being quite a large affair. However, one can never complain when loved ones come together to rejoice in your happiness and forward their good wishes and love. I wanted it to be a truly special occasion, and with the grace of God, it was. 

As Yasmine and I came from different homes and very different backgrounds, there were the inevitable personality clashes. A while after we were married, Yasmine and I did have our differences, and it was often quite hard to work around them, because we were so different.  Over the years, however, our communication has improved greatly and we’ve learnt to really listen and understand one another better. Like with most things in life, marriage is a gradual process of discovery; you learn the inner workings of your partner as well as your own over time. It inevitably requires a lot of patience and understanding but by the grace of God, if you work hard at it and remain considerate towards one another, you’ll benefit in the long run. 

I didn’t expect married life to change so much, but it does change quite substantially when you finally experience it! Having someone around you who is always concerned about whether or not you’ve eaten, whether or not you’re well, someone who is always trying to comfort and please you, really makes you realise the kind of impact you can have on others. Most of all, however, it makes you realise how grateful you should be for what you have in life. 

What I truly admire and love about Yasmine is her dedication to any objective; if she ever feels like she isn’t good at something, she’ll work hard at it until she is. Yasmine is always putting others before herself; her selfless attitude and warm nature are qualities that are important in every relationship.  Married life has definitely affected me in a good 
way. I feel like my feet are firmly planted in the ground, and I’m leading a far more stable life than I was before.