Eventually, They all Leave

 

I was thinking this morning..... I was chilling days ago when my phone rang. I picked it up and it was my dad. 'D'aba.' I greeted in Itsekiri. He responded and then said 'My friend, chief N.U. just died this morning.' 'Oh no!' I exclaimed and commiserated with him for the loss of his friend of over 40 years. My dad who is in his mid eighties has watched a number of his friends departed in the last one year, and I couldn’t help but reflect on how everyone we travel with in the journey of life eventually drops off.

We meet different passengers at different times in this journey of life. First, you find yourself in the same vehicle with your parents and siblings. There is so much love and joy in the vehicle, you will think you all will travel together forever. About 20 years down the line, as children become adults, everyone starts alighting to join another vehicle (start their families) towards their destination. You would have to continue the journey with other passengers.

Next, you joined the career vehicle and made new friends who continue the journey with you. You will be blessed to have a colleague like Florence Ekeocha, who we called Mama Flo. Friendly, loving and helpful. Why can't we just enjoy this camaraderie for 100 years? No. It doesn't work that way. We were hit hard last Friday, when we heard that Mama Flo had suddenly departed. 'But why?' We shouted in disbelief. 'Such is life' was the soft response. Others, 35 years later or when they turn 60, will have to retire. One by one, your pals that had turned brothers retire to settle in different cities and villages away from you. Life! Eventually, they all leave.

When you eventually retire to your country home, you make new friends among the retirees around and will be blessed to have some of your old friends from work retire with you in the same village or city. You thought this would be it, they will stay with you forever. But then, they start answering the eternal call. One by one, they depart.

Hmm! In this journey of life, there is most likely one passenger that will be with you most of the way. Your spouse. Many are blessed to marry early and stay married like Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, who have been married for more than 70 years. Wow! The irony is that some make the mistake of investing their time and love on short term relationships at the expense of that which will last for 80 years (spouse), if Jesus tarries. But the biggest mistake will be to invest in relationships that will last a lifetime and ignore that which will last for eternity. Proverbs 18:24 'A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.'

Family, colleagues, friends, spouse and God: Invest in all relationships but do so in the right proportion based on their longevity because on the long run they will all depart except God.

Happy Sunday. Farewell Mama Flo!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey