Life
Still he was as we all swarmed in, family , friends and well wishers. I looked at him from afar and wondered what the true essence of life was.
It is usual to sing at wakes different hymns that indicate the end of this life's struggle. Today was not any different, the hymns were sang with not very happy voices submerged under the pianists dexterity.
To my right was my cousin and her three children. She looked like I had never seen her before, sober, sad, exhausted. She had lost weight and I wished I could reach out beyond the words of comfort and show of love.
The wake went on in the usual Christian manner but I felt very different. I had been to a number of wakes in the past but this was different. I couldn't help but think about the true essence of life; we plan, we act and in the midst of some planned or unplanned activity, the owner of our soul calls for it and that's it. It all stops, the heart stops, the body seizes to be functional, the carriage and poise seizes to be......
I could hardly sing the hymns, the words were unusually heavy. A thought of my life flashed in my very eyes and sober I became. I found myself answering questions welling up on the inside of me. What would yours be? I stuttered in my thoughts... Erm...... Erm.... Another question is posed, who would be there? I began to picture faces and activities and then it struck me...... The essence of life is built around the lives that we touch because at that point when it all stops, what men will remember is how you made them feel, what sort of advice you gave, how gracious you were when you had to be and when you didn't have to be, how being around you or otherwise made this life a beautiful place. A lot of people will never give account of what you did and when you did it but there will at this point be no secrets any more. The words of men is all you have left. Words are framed from thoughts, thoughts are generated from feelings and our general sense of reasoning.
The time for testimonies came and the good reports did not stop coming in. Colleagues, neighbors and his school mates from the 80's.
His daughter, my Aburo got behind the mic and she spoke with a heavy voice and sour heart. She brought back a memory from the past; "when we were still very young, Daddy came home with a bag of garden eggs one day and we asked him why he did so? Daddy said he saw a person selling garden eggs in the rain and he parked his car and bought all of the garden eggs and told the person to leave the rain"
The minister retreated that death does not discriminate, it takes the rich and the poor, the old and unfortunately the young.
It is poetic how the essence of our living is known to all when we are gone. My actions are creating my testimonies already and so are yours.
Asides being in right standing with God, a good social capital is the next best thing that every man needs.
This piece is dedicated to a great man - Barrister Adeniyi Adeyemi Adewunmi (25 August 1966 - 14 July 2016). You will forever be remembered through your good deeds, cheerful heart and most importantly, the lives you touched.
Adieu
