Kofi’s family stepped forward for the knocking ceremony— the official request for my hand in marriage. They carried symbolic gifts in large, shallow calabashes: bottles of schnapps, kola nuts, cloth, yam, jewelry, beaded necklaces, money wrapped in handkerchiefs, and a hand-sewn wrapper that matched the pattern of my gown. My mom sat beside me under a smaller tent lined with white lace and trimmed in Adinkra symbols.
