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Monday 5 January 2009

Err..

"it's a beautiful life, oh-oh-oh-oh
it's a beautiful life, oh-oh-oh-oh...
- Beautiful life, Ace of Base

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I say this with the hope that we all made it. December was a menage of feelings for me, I celebrated life i.e. the birth of my first niece Zoe which made me the proudest and happiest aunty on earth (post for another day)...

I mourned i.e. the death of an ex-colleague/salsa dance partner at the company's xmas party/on-the-way-to-becoming-my friend which totally threw me for a loop! I danced with him on the 19th of December and our mutual friends teased us no end about liking each other, then i got a phone call on the 26th;

L: (in a very weird voice) hello Smaragd
Me: hey! how are u babe? u are missing me already abi?i'm not in lagos o...
and i ramble on in my usual way
L: "long silence"
Me: oh..kay, what's up? why aren't u saying anything?
L: S is dead!

How was I supposed to handle that? how was I supposed to process that? I was shell-shocked! I know people die and bla bla, but not my friends! my friends dont die. I dont see them last week and bury them next week! There I was carrying a two-week old baby, assuring her that she had a full life ahead of her and being overly happy that she was with and suddenly life looked so bleak... so very like trees look in winter.

Becuse I refused to believe my friend, I called S's number, it rang and I began to hope until a woman who identified herself as his aunty picked up the phone;

Me: hello?
Strange voice: hello, who's this?
Me: Smaragd, S's friend, pls may I speak with him?
Strange voice: I'm his aunty, and err... something happened...
Me: Oh My God!
S's Aunty: so u've heard something then, it's true.
Me: I'm so sorry ma (and i dropped the phone like it was hot)

I just sat staring into space for hours after that with no tears. S had so much promise, he was very intelligent, very hardworking, very dedicated, very young, very handsome and unusual. Unusual because his looks didnt go to his head, he was very grounded and I was just getting to know him outside work.

It hurt no end. Still does. I could not bring myself to attend the service of songs, I just could not. I dont even know why I'm writing this cuz my intention was a bubbly post. Sorry guys, for dumping this on you all so early in the year, I'm really sorry.

I was going to write about the new development in Lagos. I'm sure we all know that Okadas (motorcycles) are here to stay as a means of transportation, so we know that trying to eradicate them is just as hopeless as believeing that there'll be electrical supply when I get home this evening.

So, it's been decided that if we cannot get rid of the necessary evil that the motorbikes have become, we can at least make them safer. Which means I have had to wear 4 different helmets today, because I have biked to the bank twice (back and forth) from my office! I wore the first one because of the novelty, the second because it looked new, the third i hesitated to wear because it was more an engineer's hat than a helmet and I flat out refused to wear the fourth one because I realised that this new inventive is the fastest way to spread head lice and God-knows-whatever-else people can catch from sharing hats!

there is only one solution as far as i'm concerned, I must buy my car sooner than i originally planned BUT while that's being processed, I need to keep my corporate cab driver closer than i did last year AND I need to get a scarf or a hanky that will by all means PROTECT my head from the interior of these helmets and all the tiny soldiers that they will pretty soon convey!

Thanks everyone for being a part of my 2008, for giving me a cyber family, blogging could not and would not have been what it was without you guys and I most likey would not have learnt as much as I did in 08 without your blogs. Thanks for the laughter ( oh i had a lot of that..."lol-ing", "Rotflmao-ing", just "lmao-ing" and the tears (yea, i had a dose of that as well). I believe 2009 will be better than 2008. Despite all that happened, it still is a beautiful life after all.

Welcome to the beginning of the best part of the rest of our lives.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please accept my condolence...
My prayer is that God should spare our lives to see many more years...Cheer up...

Freaksho said...

i'm sorry about the loss of your friend. i can't imagine what it must feel like...neither do i want to.
i hear you on buying a car soon.have you seen those helmets? good LORD!!

Miss Definitely Maybe said...

Sorry about your friend
at least that teaches us that in 2009 we should embrace life
coz you never know which day is your last

Afrobabe said...

Awwww, happy new year babes...and sorry for the loss of ur friend...it is well..

congrats on ur neice...Time to start behaving as an adult..as per latest aunty in town..

NaijaScorpio said...

Happy new yr. Sorry to hear about ur friend. May he rest in peace.

I would be highly skeptical of those helmets myself. So be sure to keep ur scarf handy. I have to applaud their effort to make things safer.

mizchif said...

Sry bout the loss of your friend. I also used to have the MY FRIENDS DON"T DIE outlook, but i guess this life is fleeting, we'll just have to make the best of our brief sojourn here on earth.

Hope u get ur car soon oh, b4 u suffer lice infestation. Thank God me i'm not in Lagos, i for trek taya!

Anonymous said...

Oh love, so sorry. c'est la vie. We lose some and then we gain one. I hope this makes you realise that life is short and you must enjoy as much as we can when we have it, I hope you are able to see the little ray of lesson in this dark time. take heart and my thoughts are with you. HAppy new year to you.

Zayzee said...

happy new year girl. sorry about ur friend. also lost a friend in december.

congrats on becoming a aunt. I wonder when that will be for me, as i have to be the one to give all my siblings a niece or nephew first.

the helmet. lol. at first it was funky and yes for our own safety. but really, just go about with a showercap before your wear those things that will be another fast method of spreading disease.

and i like that spirit o, its time to get your car. when the helmet law was put in place last year to be effective first, i said God, by then my car must have come o. I no fit shout. number one okada flyer like me

Jayjazzy said...

sorry about ur friend, and the helmet thingy, well hilarious

The Activist said...

So sorry about your friend. May the soul of the departed rest in peace. Helmets hun?

Zena said...

Sorry about your friend

A friend of mine just put a status up about him on FB

What a way to start the New-Year.....It is well

Congratulations on being an Aunt, its the best thing next to having your own,

InCogNaija said...

sorry about your friend...our prayer is that God will protect Us and Ours!
Na wa wif the okadas o. no go carry lice come house abeg. we no want! lol!
Happy New Year Babe!!

LG said...

chai' n i was coming here to koboko u 4 not sayin hapinuye'
*aww pele abt ur loss dear'
may his soul continue to rest in peace AMEN

badderchic said...

Amen girl, really is the beginning of the best part of our lives.

So sorry to hear about your friend.

Helmets? that one na another case.

aloted said...

so so sorry about ur loss...

it is well..

happy new year

Jay said...

Happy 2009!!

So sorry about your friend :(, 2009will be better

as for sharing helmet..not nice at all..get ur self a cute girly one until ur car arrives

chin up xx

The Activist said...

HEY, DROP BY AT MY BLOG FOR A MINUTES TO READ WHAT AFROBABE SAID ABOUT YOU ON "THURSDAY INTERVIEW"
THANKS

ibiluv said...

Pele
accept my heartfelt condolence

i had no idea

congrats on your niece

Twinny- i have not climbed okada this year o because i no wan wear helmet and if i have to wear-I'm definitely using a scarf

i no wan get lice/bumps on my sexy hair..*wink*

sweat nko?..nyama.....

Flourishing Florida said...

eh ya. pele abt ur friend's death. must have been too shocking to you. how did he die, u didn't say? anyways, take heart. he is now with God.

congrats on being an aunt. i don do am 3 times, so na me b baba 4 dis area

Shubby Doo said...

i'm sorry for your loss darling

i hope and pray that what you say about 2009 rings true...'to the beginning of the best part of the rest of our lives.'

p.s
happy new year hun

Zayzee said...

u r forgiven. so bring the yoruba lectures. No more Daystar? are u serious. you wan go start the academy quick quick so u go finish b4 me! sorry o. im in Lagos every weekend. and i now am in transportation and care unit. those people in church who drive you back to the car park or direct you into the buses after service. Let's me o

ablackjamesbond said...

Sorry about ur friend.

May we not bury any of our friends this year.

One more solution to the helmet thingy... buy one ;)

tobenna said...

Its always sad to read stories like this.
I guess the only thing it spurs me to do is to leave my mark on everything I touch.
Cheers dear and have a fantastic new year.

FineBoy Agbero said...

hey, happy new yr...

sorry abt ur friend tho. may dis yr be free of such...

Nigerian Drama Queen said...

My condolences for your loss...
I just recently heard about this helmet thing...while it may lead to safer roads, it could most definately lead to an outbreak of lice and other bacteria!!!
Oh and congratulations on being a new aunty!!!
Happy New Year.

Buttercup said...

oh damn..im so so sorry....it just goes to show that we have to always live right cos we can go at ANYTIME..God forbid tho....be strong sweetie!

lol @ the helmet thing..yes o, get that scarf or better still, ur own helmet! may God bless u with ur car soon o, amen!

btw im still in naija BUT i'll be leaving tomorrow :(

miz-cynic said...

burracups if i catch u en.sory abt ur loss,but if ud startd dating it would hv bn more painful