"Cherish"

In the eighties, precisely, 1985, Kool and the gang had a hit song titled "Cherish" which stayed on the charts for a long time and was a special for many people. The song remains a favorite for many and the lyrics are very special, rendering great counsel to people for the fleeting time spent on earth.
It has always been known that humans seldom appreciate what they have. Many things can come in and be obstacles to the opportunity to cherish and enjoy God's numerous blessings. Blessings come in different shapes and sizes, in different areas of life and blessings can be easily missed or ignored. Many people miss out totally at great opportunities to fulfill their God given destiny, and also fail to be blessings to others who would have benefited from the fulfilling of their destiny.
Appreciating and cherishing all the blessings along the journey of life, which like a long country road, may go down valleys and then up mountains, with scrubland or beautiful meadows by the roadside, meandering rivers, dusty dry roads, muddy patches, which if well navigated come together to create the picture of a beautiful journey at the end of it all. By cherishing the good times and working through the hard times with the gifts placed around by the almighty, one can navigate through life prepared to transition into the next phase, eternity, without worries. Cherishing family and friends and helping people placed around, can wrap up into a fulfilled life.

My father went home to his maker last month. Having a few days to wish him farewell
has been one of the most humbling blessings in my life. He was aware of the crowd surrounding him, physically and electronically, as he got ready to appear in God's presence,he acknowledged it and I am sure he must have remembered the days, many years ago, daily, morning and night,when he led morning and evening prayers, with his family around him.
A few months ago, in late spring, when he and my mother were with me, he continued the same practice, leading in morning and evening prayers. If I was home, I joined them, if not, he prayed with my mother, after songs and scripture reading. I would come home to see them sitting side by side having fellowship. Even when he woke up late, the morning fellowship happened then. Then followed the preparation for his citizenship test. She quizzed him and he answered. Some of the questions, at least one of them, I did not know the answer the first time I heard it. Day after day, he was quizzed and he got the information packed in. Sometimes, he would miss giving the right answer and she would get impatient and ask how many times she would remind him of the right answer. I thought it was incredible, that he was answering the questions at all, with his poor hearing and age, but to her, he was still prince charming, age, wrinkles, hard of hearing and all.
One day at the park, to which we went often to stroll,sit around to relax and take in the views, I sat on a park bench with him, to let him rest, while my mother continued to walk around to see the park and to exercise, I was surprised when, after about five minutes, which must have seemed very long to him, he turned and asked me " Where is Mercy?" I was taken aback, because I had never heard him call her by her name before. It would have been, "where is your mother?" We found her and we went home not long after that. I reflected on that for a while, wondering what would happen if by any chance she went before him. I quickly dismissed that thought, believing that when the time came, there must be a way to take whatever happened in stride, a debt which every human being must pay someday.

Upon returning to the Northeast, he went for his interview and passed with flying colors and was sworn in in July as a citizen of the United States of America. When I called to congratulate him, he chuckled happily and reminded to thank "your mother" for helping him prepare.
While going through old pictures being compiled for the celebration of his life, I came across a picture from the early seventies,after the Biafran war,of my parents, who I thought were really old then. I was so surprised at the picture, which must have caught them of guard, I guess, because although it was obvious how they felt about each other, which showed in subtle ways, they hardly ever let us see it. In this picture, it looks like he complimented her dress and she looked a little bit bashful and inclined her head at a compliment.
He is gone now. It has been up and down, good days and not so good days. Constantly reminding her of other people in her shoes, people much younger, with less blessings than her, had helped in bringing her through a journey into the future without him. Sixty five years plus, are many years. It must feel like an amputation. However, life must go on, by " leaning on the everlasting arm" on a daily basis as they did together,alone now,cherishing memories.

Nwada Chinwe Enemchuwku
Picture courtesy of Mrs Chioma Okafor