39 Years Old, Still Alone… Because He Is a Teacher.

My friend is 39.

Still single.

Still carrying the same scar society carved into his heart many years ago.

He once loved deeply. He proposed. She said yes. They dreamed of a future together.

But her parents, especially her mother, said no.

Not because he wasn’t kind. Not because he wasn’t intelligent. But because he was… a teacher.

They asked cruel questions that cut him like a knife:

“What can a teacher give my daughter?”

“Is it with his chalk and ₦40,000 salary that he wants to build a family?”

“He has no house. No car. No future.”

She left him. And with her went the love of his life.

He tried again with others. Again and again. But every time, the story repeated itself.

At first, they admire his passion. His dedication. His quiet dignity.

But when it comes to marriage, they walk away. They choose someone else. Someone “richer.”

And he is left behind.

Now he is 39. Alone.

Not because he is not worthy of love. Not because he doesn’t have a good heart.

But because society chose to measure his value with money, not with impact.

He still teaches. He still smiles. He still pours his heart into children that are not his.

But every night, when the noise is gone and silence comes, he feels the weight:

The love he lost…

The women who walked away…

The family he never started.

And all because he chose chalk over cash. Classrooms over comfort.

A calling over a career.

To every teacher reading this — you are not p00r.

You are not small.

You are nation-builders. You are the unseen heroes.

But until the world learns to value teachers, many like my friend will keep paying this cruel price:

Shaping futures for other people’s children, while their own dreams of family slowly slip away.