Every day is a good day

When my mother died, my brother (Dennis and his wife) and I stayed two weeks with Chinenye (Dennis’s daughter) and never left the house. Chinenye’s birth, her smile, hope, family life, and friends helped us to understand that every day is a good day. Her life is a journey of faith with God that begins the moment we trust Christ.

Every day we are confronted with feelings of grief

                                                                                Photo source: wendymccaig.com

On April 17, I wake up earlier than the other members of our household, usually around 5am to prepare for one duty I have mastered since in moved to South Africa (school via work). After praying and writing the activities for the day on a Sticky Notes on my Laptop, take a shower, setting the turn to school, but before then I prepare coffee. I put in the milk to allow the coffee to soften, and put one spoon of sugar. Aunil and I like coffee with toast bread. When the time to head off to school, I shift the coffee and the breed to microwave, and head off.

My brother usually woke up earlier.  When I opened the garage door, around 6am, he didn’t so I press the remote key again and the garage door closed. At the bus stops, there is usually queue on every Monday morning but on this Monday morning there is no queue, notwithstanding is the first day of the week and most people go to work.  There, one by one, we stood together at the Parklands main Road waiting for bus. This has been my routine since I moved to South Africa, on 3^rd December 2008. I never complain or get upset (using public transport) because, Lama Govinda writes that, “All suffering arises from attitude. The world is neither good nor bad. It is solely our relationship to it which makes it either one or the other." And I believe that.

In school I called home to speak to my mother but was told she couldn’t come on phone because of her condition. Health condition at young age is not a problem, but at this age is something to worry about. Later that day, we had the news that she is death. I felt that my life is coming to end. I felt cold, and cried the whole night. I don’t getting much sleep that night nor eat that night. I felt like the world was over. My mother and I never had a perfect relationship, but who does? I’m the last born and the most adored. We were more than family, as well as son and mother and definitely had our share of troubles.  But, we always worked past them and never doubted that we loved each other.

Friends and the new born queen (Chinenye -the sound of one hand clapping) changed all that grief. Chinenye is very pretty also blond.  Friends always to say she is gift of God and she is our mother that come back to us. Today we are happy. Leaving with her warm smiles and playfully character. We take each day a good day notwithstanding our lost.  One moment, I miss her(mother), feel that pain and lost; the next, joy and peace. This all occurs in the mind; we create the world we live in. We sometimes cannot change the circumstances we live in, but we can always change our attitude. If we can learn to let go, it will change by itself (Nonin Chowaney).

Dennis and his daughter(Chinenye)