What is true love? Is it just something people say or does it exist?  Love without limits, without conditions, beautiful and pure, and most especially not transactional. In this age of rising skepticism and cynicism, does such love exist or is it just pure fantasy?

I’ll let you be the judge of that…. PS, It’s a lengthy read but I’m certain, you’ll enjoy it.

We completely fell in love with the story of these two lovebirds, Maryanne and Julius, who have triumphed over every obstacle life has thrown their way. Their love is not just a story but an inspiration to many that true love exists no matter your circumstances. Enough preaching…Let’s get into the juicy bits.

‘I don’t need to look deep into her eyes for a connection because that means that she needs to be looking back at me and that’s just one-dimensional, our Love goes deeper than that. With zero eye contact but spot-on emotional coordination so we let our Love see for us.’ That’s how he describes their love.

Our first meeting with the two had us all in awe. You cannot tell that Julius is visually impaired, a ViP he says, not only because his eyes do not show it but because of how independent he is. They each shared how they met on campus, one, a beautiful young woman who was not going to have boys play with her heart, and the other, a cheeky young man with an insane amount of confidence out to impress this beautiful lady who had caught his eye (he could see at the time.)

Julius even shares a funny story of how a girl, not Maryanne, once stood him up because she realized he was blind while on a date. He shares with us how he gradually lost his sight twice due to a genetic condition. And yes, he was devastated at first after seeking help from all avenues but he was able to rise above all this to the man we know him to be now.

Did you know that Julius is a very talented dancer?

Maryanne is the heart of the family, well Julius affectionately jokes that she is the apple of his ear… Get it? She is a mum of two who has so much love for her family. She is an extremely active advocate for the self-reliance of people living with disabilities;

‘When we pity people with disability and show them kindness out of pity, we make them feel that they cannot do it on their own. We should empower them to be more self-reliant.’ She passionately adds.

Maryanne adds that she doesn’t treat Julius as a blind person. They both agree that avoiding the word and focusing too much on it gives it power. She says, ‘kama mimi ni mgonjwa, ataingia jikoni, apike, ahakikishe kila kitu kiko sawa kwa nyumba’ (he’ll do every chore if I am unwell, whether it’s cooking or cleaning up the house.)

But this beautiful couple has had its share of issues, just like any other couple. They have been separated from each other for a long but they still rose above that too. They have had people pity them but they do not let it bother them.  

They chose to share their story to empower every other person with a disability to know that they can lead a normal fulfilling life just like any other person and that love is truly about hearts and character, not just looks.

They also have an initiative for kids with visual impairment called the white cane initiative, which I will tell you about in the next article so stay tuned….

So what do you think of their love?