Not everything that happens to a man is worth spilling and discussing publicly. Oftentimes what we hide and endure defines us , aiding one to realize and discover the very depth of ones stuff hidden and uncharted.
It is still very clear. As much as it tries to dim, as days ,months and even years roll by, the more clearer it becomes. It looked like a dream, I struggled and pleaded to be woken from it. How nightmarish it could be for those whose feet have trekked on this path
In your usual self who would at every opportunity counsel and bless, that day’s blessing and prayer preceeding your death would always reverberate to my soul. Though it wasn’t the first of such fatherly blessings ,but how special it was lies in the passion, the energy, the commitment and the faith with which it flowed from the depth of your soul. It was your parting gift, holding it to my chest is one thing I wouldn’t trifle with.
I felt it ,of course my siblings who were part of that blessing felt its uniqueness too.
Life can be very simple Dad! and also too complex. It takes a discerning soul to know that it just doesn’t happen, for every single move of life in whatever direction comes with meaning, lessons and signs, the difference however is in ones ability or otherwise to decode and act accordingly. The signs were there Mpam! But we didn’t get it.
Hello Dad! Can you hear me? It is already 12 months , 365 days of absolute silence , 8760 hours of not hearing your voice and 525600 minutes of frantic effort to hold you and hear those humorous jabs of yours. Only in our memories, the much we can remember, we relish .
Nothing is as permanent as change . Every other thing changes , leaving one with nostalgic feelings or a good riddance of a toxic baggage feelings. Yours is of the former with so much good memories that loosened my emotional tear gland, dropping in droplets daily,even when hidden by the instincts of male ‘machoism” it still dropped deep in my soul. It ached then! But not anymore! For where you are is far better than the derp valley of vanity and misery of this world !
The reality is, you are gone! The gap created, obvious, however one tries to close it and pretend about it , it can’t be as when you were around, like a broken but mended glass, the traces of the cracks would always be there.
You didn’t just pass through this life, like an Elephant your foot prints are quite embossed, like a lion your roars are still reverberating and like a horse you galloped through life with the fitness that made it looked easy and effortless, even when the terrain was bumpy and murky.
Hello Dad!! 15th of June isn’t just a day anymore to us, no more an ordinary day in our book of remembrance. It has gone into the annals of our memory. Nothing bleaks it , nothing dims it and nothing errases.
How can we forget it ? 15th June? How irrelevant can that date get in our scales? And how trival can we make it look? It is a memorial day, when the very events that built up to your transfiguration come alive not with hurts , numbness and grieve as it was the first time but with a feeling of thanksgiving to God for a life well spent.
You are gone but you are not gone really! Your aura isn’t expired and the very good memories of yours are still trending. You are still with us only that we can neither touch nor see you with our physical hands and eyes .
Mpam! never would anyone who knew you steps into the house without being struck by the consciousness of your presence either by signs, signage, memories , aura etc.
Iwu Agu , In life! More Agu even in death!
Continue to rest and look over us Opara UNL as we strive to pull and push ourselves along that path of value, integrity and godliness which you carved and plied unapologetically while here with us.
Oga adiri anyi na gi mma n’ Afo, na o
Ore, na Nkwo Di kwara anyi mma na Eke! Iseeee!!
MY LAST WORD: Life and where to live it isn’t a choice but how to live it, is. Death and where to die isn’t a choice, but how good one dies, is. The choice one makes in life, defines the kind of death one dies. Death a necessary end for all , with different timing. The departure lounge the best place to be, ready at all times to board for a smooth and peaceful flight.
AGU NA ECHE MBA OPARA UMUNNAKWE NNANNA LAWRENCE JP
CONTINUE TO REST IN PEACE 🙏
#Jarlath Opara
