The first time met Alex was on my parents' doorstep, the winter after I graduated from college. Groom or 7, or maybe even 12: by the time my met him at the bus station and drove him to our house, I had already lost count. For more than a year, my extended family had been working hard for me, receiving and rejecting proposals Things were getting desperate: I was 22, and Ineeded to get married before maid.