Hi there. I wish I could say that much peace resides
in that greeting of mine. Why? Not that I have
stopped living; but that a lot has happened lately to me. So much..
Let me whisper it to you - there was this little tiff between
my wife and I. Did I say little? Well,
it had to do with one of our two boys;
but I can tell you, it was much deeper than that!
A blog for another day...

One thing is clear: I learned that children are really very
important to women. It was tough while the
tension lasted... But we began to work it out for
our selves. Boy, things could be tough at times!!
Life is not easy; not at all - at any age, but after the hell
I was happy and relieved again. Light was back in my eyes;
we are now closer than ever....
.

Then it happened! My sister died on 28th August, 2010 -
exactly 75 years and 6 days old. A Saturday. I was broken!
I felt like an orphan once again, having lost my mum
when I was only five years old. She filled the vacuum for
over 55 years of my life as my mentor,
friend, counselor, mother and sister rolled into one.
With her death, many links forged and kept have been
broken! Even tenuous ones.

As I write, I feel the vacuum
she left is still beckoning on someone in my family
to come and fill. She was a larger-than-life person - as they say.
Wielded a lot of influence in the area where she lived.
She was a woman leader in one of the wards in Lagos
State. Had 4 children - 2 boys, and 2 girls - all of whom
are making waves in their chosen fields. Her husband is
over 80 years old. But one voice - the voice of her newspaper
vendor still rings in my ears as we took her body to the
church for the funeral service that morning, "So, Mama
dey inside that coffin...?" His voice trailed, as he ignored
a possible customer.

I could go on about this idol of mine for
years, but let me cap this with this poem I wrote for her:

WE WILL SEE YOU AGAIN, SISTER

Mama Aba, sister, friend'
This is not at all your end!
Big, friend, foe, great or small...
Even in death, you still live...
For your memory will cleave
To the countless lives you touched
In testimonies that breathe
Of things we wish we did!
You were a centre-point,
Incomparable family joint!
My sister...at the trumpet blast,
You'll wake with a joyful start -
Immortal, renewed, deathless,
To eternity, strong, deathless.
Sleep, sister, sleep until then,
While we live in this woeful den!

See you, too soon. Pretty soon.

-Hakeem