60. "Say it for God's sake, SAY it" / Part Five
The odds were all too high on my parents commanding against such an atypical marriage. Children’s matrimony was one domain wherein parents enjoyed near exclusive governance. Culture, tradition, and religion enjoined children to filial obedience. And marriages made under compulsion were sometimes the upshot of such undue exercise of unconditional power. The honourable intentions of parents seeking felicity and contentment for their children were barely disputed despite events taking at times awkward turns. Like other loving and caring parents, mine wished the best of life for me, their only daughter. My fearful expectations, however, stemmed from the likelihood of my parents disqualifying Martin because he did not meet their criteria of a worthy suitor. The chances of their responding favourably to the proposal of a foreign suitor seemed slim even without the additional complication of his being divorced. Recurrent wars, the heavy-handed sanctions of the United Nations upon Iraq in the...