My dearest aunty with a most beautiful heart like no other, I have really struggled to comprehend or accept your demise. And it is with a very heavy heart that I resign myself to writing this.
I hadn’t seen you since 2009 and then this last November, you came to the house and spent such quality time with us as if you knew you would be gone so soon. It was such a bright and sunny day which was very unusual in November but of course you are just that! Bright and sunny inside and outside.
I still remember the hours of ‘gisting’, the jokes and the endless laughter. You had not changed one bit! Even after you left, we all couldn’t still stop laughing! The boys kept telling me ‘mum, your aunty is so much fun’. And of course you had goodies for everyone, in your usual manner. You even still bought me clothes like you did back in my uni days!!!
Oh Uni days!! Where do I start Aunty?! You were indeed the Aunty that all my friends wished they had! I still recall the food shopping trips to the market that would literally last the whole day and I would be frowning, tired of waiting for you to say hello to every single trader!! And you’d look at my face and tell me how ugly I look when I frown, followed by ‘What’s that your shoe size again?’ or ‘biko chōrōnū nwa di m malt na anu ka ihu ya gbasaa’ (please give my husband’s niece a bottle of malt and some meat to get her pretty face back). And at that point I wouldn’t even know when I would burst out laughing. Of course I would go back to school with bags of goodies and swear never to go to the market with you again only to end up in the exact same situation the next weekend having being carried away by your jokes!! That just sums you up. You knew how to liven up anyone no matter the situation. You were truly the soul of the party!! Irresistible company!!!
In all the time I knew you, one thing was certain, you were true to yourself and what you believed in. You didn’t apologise for being you. You never hesitated or shied away from saying things exactly as they were. Quick to praise good deeds and equally quick to call out injustice, which didn’t always go down well with lots of people. But that was just you. And yet it would always come from a good place.
Above everything else, you were a wonderful wife to my uncle. I watched how you dotted on him. As quiet as he was, he came alive around you and always looked forward to going home to you. Even in those last days at St Thomas Hospital, I remember and could see how happy you made him at the darkest of times.
You were also such great mum to your kids and all the young people that were ever in your care, very strict and never spared the rod but you never also spared the love. How you could balance both is still beyond me. You loved unconditionally and sincerely.
Dearest Aunty, nothing I write here can ever do justice to the very unique individual that you were. An absolute rare gem. If only I knew that the time we spent in December would be the last, I would have just passed through that morning as I promised. I would have just spent that one more day with you. If only….
Thank you for the love, kindness, support, guidance and all the advice over the years. I’ll always be grateful for everything. I’ll always remember. And I’m most grateful to God that I was able to tell you in person.
I know that you live on in your lovely children. They are truly a testament to the amazing human being that you were. I pray that they reap the reward of your kindness to me and so many others that crossed your path.
You have gone far too soon but your impact and the difference you made in the lives of so many, leave an unwavering legacy. You were and will continue to be an inspiration for living life to the fullest and not letting anything get in your way.
Aunty m, I have such lovely and countless memories of you. And I will always remember you very fondly. Death only took one part; the rest is in our hearts. God bless your beautiful bubbly soul and sleep well.
Ebere Emezie (Nee Okite)