I got married a couple years ago.  So needless to say, I am still in the throws of newlywed life. I am quickly learning how to share my life and living space with someone. Compromises and concessions have become a daily part of living … and it is pretty hard being a native Vermonter.

Stubbornness

I am a Vermonter and she is an Igbo. Both cultures are known for their stubbornness.

We have plenty of anecdotal evidence of this from my grandmother holding a grudge of a former childhood friend for 50 years, to scores of farmers of the generations that toil on rocky soil to grow crops, first out of shear determination that slows grows into fighting the ground out of spite… and eventually winning. We actually have an old saying as to describe someone as “stubborn as a pig on ice.”

The perfect example of Vermont stubbornness would be the First Vermont Brigade. They were the only brigade that was named for the state they came from during the civil war. The group was famously known for always holding their positions in battle and regularly ignored orders to retreat.

There are three predominantly main tribes in Nigeria, and hundreds of smaller tribes. The three main tribes are Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo. A few years after Nigeria declared independence from Great Britain; the Igbo declared independence from the rest of Nigeria to form their own country of Biafra. The Igbo eventually lost after 2 and a half years, but no other tribe in Africa was ever stubborn enough to stick their middle finger up to hundreds of other tribes and said, “Screw you, we’re doing this by ourselves.”

And to add to the stubbornness, there is also the famous Igbo Women’s War where they fought the government over taxation laws back in 1929.

Now we are putting in perspective what it means to have a Vermont man marry an Igbo woman; and the stories that I am excited to share with all of you.

The Lion and the Dove

My birthday falls under the Leo zodiac sign, so I have always embraced my lion side. I asked Edith a while back if she was an animal what she would be. She said a dove.  I asked why and she said she thought doves looked pretty and lived a life of freedom.  Now I'm stuck drawing beaks for the rest of my cartooning life.

Lion and Dove.  Thought it would be fun to look in to getting a domain name for it, but it turns out that they are both popular biblical animals (along with the lamb) and there is a romance novel out with the same name.

Really the main symbolism comes from the observation that we are both from two completely different cultures.  Not only are we from different continents, but I am rural and she is urban.  Everything about us is opposite, like a cat married to a bird.  In the end I wouldn't change it for the world.  She is my dove.

I can't wait to keep telling our stories.