Happy Birthday

 

I usually would have been very excited about this day but ...

It's taking a lot from me doing this. I'm finding a reason to give thanks when all that I feel like doing is just to keep asking why.

Three years ago, my Dad was very sick. I was always praying,"Heal my father." I believed with all my heart that he was going to get up and be alright.

On the 10th of October 2017, he had a doctor's appointment and was to go through a procedure. We spent the whole day at the Kaduna NAF Base hospital where the procedure couldn't take place because his body kept rejecting it.

It was my birthday. I remember praying and for the first time accepting the possibility of him not recovering. "Lord, if it's time for Daddy to rest, please give him a few more days, not on my birthday. If he rests today, I will never have a birthday again. I will never be able to give thanks for another year." 

Somehow, something happened and the procedure went on. Bless God🙌

I had no plans to even boil water because I didn't feel like celebrating, but after that prayer, I suddenly decided his life was a good enough reason to celebrate, so I called Baryat and asked her to take some money from my room and get goat meat and some veggies so that I could cook and have a few friends over.

Then we got to Barnawa after everything and all I wanted to eat was Amala, so I told George Yellow to proceed to Barnawa complex. We will quickly get Amala and be home before the other car arrives. The reason was that Daddy needed help getting out of the car and settling in.

Alas, the Amala was never to be!

That's how we had a slight encounter with the police and ended up in Barnawa police station. We were even going to be detained.

Hmmm! 

Story for another day.

We spent about three hours or so. 

Thank God for Reverend Father Onyema. He came to our rescue, followed us to the police station, stayed with us and signed for us. He still teases me about that day to date.

Baryat had to go to school, but thank God for Ruth and Miracle who ended up doing the cooking.

Everyone kept wondering where we were. See calls!

That day, Daddy ate my birthday food and even asked for more. In fact, he said we refused to give him the salad till he asked for it. 😁

See excitement! Everyone was excited! We kept saying, "Daddy asked for more! Hey, praise God! Recovery has set in." See celebration. He even teased me and cracked jokes. I was on top of the world. 

Three days later, he went for another appointment. I couldn't go because I had to swear an affidavit and get a police report for my missing passport. I was in a fix, I wanted to go with them but I had to do this other thing. "I'll go next time," I reluctantly convinced myself.

Daddy didn't come back home. He passed on later that day, after giving me false hope.😭😭

Two years later, on 10th October 2019, Shama, Mummy's adopted son who used to sleep in her room, came to wake me. Mummy was calling. It was very early in the morning, before 5 AM. When I saw the state she was in, I called uncle Caleb. I barely managed to bathe.

That's how I spent another birthday in the hospital with my surviving parent. She also almost passed on that day, but God! Somehow, she made a quick recovery, lived through most of October, only to pass away on the 28th, 18 days after my birthday and 20 days after hers. 

I've done nothing but think and wish since October rolled in. I've worried, I've prayed, I've cried.

Today, I choose to do what the Word of God says, "Give thanks"🙌. I choose to celebrate my life, which seems as if it has only been full of grief.

The truth is, I have also laughed and loved and been loved. I have lacked and been helped, I have hurt and have also found healing. I have erred and found forgiveness. My broken heart has been mended, though the scars remain!

I want to thank God, the giver of life, who gave me the rare privilege to have been born and raised by my parents. I wouldn't trade them in a million years.

So, Lord, this is me thanking you for another year🙌🙌 and opportunity to live and make a difference.