I woke up this morning to the remembrance of a gem. It’s exactly a year ago when she left us to be with the angels above. If the dead do look back upon the living, I hope she looks back with smiles on her lips when she behold the ones she left behind. It was on a Tuesday evening when our worst fear came upon us. We had fasted and prayed for her life to be spared but God had a better plan. Surely we lack the capacity to grasp his ways because they are past finding out (Romans 11:33).

On the penultimate visit I paid the family before her demise, even though my heart ached when I saw her, I was comforted by her determination to surmount the vicious ailment that distressed her body. I was in emotional distress and went to her and her husband for advice. I was on the verge of making a delicate decision – a decision I was convinced of but that I couldn’t make my family understand. Together with her husband, they counselled me, they encouraged me and they helped me make peace with my family. For this, I am ever grateful. She promised to come celebrate with me but the ailment would not permit.

The last time I visited them in her lifetime, it was with a grateful heart. I had followed through with my decision and so far, it has been one of the wisest decision I ever made in life. Even as life ebbed out of her, her soul remained beautiful. She tried to be strong for us all. I was pained at what her illness had left of her and her soul mate. We returned home and kept hoping to hear better news of her recovery until she passed on. My mum was inconsolable. They were like sisters, which was why I went to her when I had trouble with mum. I knew she could talk to mum and she would listen. Of course, I can’t describe the grief of the immediate family but God be praised we all survived her.

Like a mother, while I was much younger, she saw the potential of a great teacher in me among other women. I knew this when she referred to me as one person the Christian sisters could rely on to teach them with or without prior notice. Those words meant a lot and they still do. I’m glad she supported my decision to marry my husband. That singular decision has unleashed a horizon of possibilities for me. This blog is one of them and that is why this post is dedicated to her.  

365 days have passed. Years gone by and years to come, to God, are still an open page. We know not what tomorrow holds. We only know He’ll be our guide and father still. We are here today but tomorrow may see just a grave in the valley. Whenever our time comes, we hope to be found faithful to meet you again in the Lord’s bosom.

From her life, I have learnt that even in distress you can still heal the soul of another. Her life also taught that every little word of acknowledgement matters. She was blessed financially but her wealth was for everyone around her. You are blessed to bless others in one way or another (spiritually or physically). We are her legacy. God rest her soul.

O the bliss of that morning, when our loved ones we meet. With the songs of the ransomed we each other shall greet. Singing praise to the Lamb through eternity years with the past all forgotten with its sorrows and tears. In the Morning of Joy.

(In loving memory of Late Ma Oyetunji Adeola)

You may also like my previous post on lessons from the life of two men. Click here to read.

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