wrongturn
Elder Lister
Stolen from fb, very long but interesting. How many are not speaking to their brothers, sisters in adult life and also those cousins that have carried the mantle from their parents even without knowing the cause.
So ignore sp if any, it's C&P
Long Post alert!!
I appreciate everyone of you who took their time on Friday 14th to type those birthday wishes, I'm truly grateful for yet another year.
The reason why I'm grateful for my life is because I know too well the pain of loosing loved ones in a family, you see once upon a time we were 9 in our family (2 parents and 7 siblings, 2 girls and 5 boys), yet today we are only 2, my Sister and yours truly, yaani in a span of 27 years we've experienced death 7 times
The post isn't about seeking for sympathy or comments but about the lessons I've learned because of my experience
The first time we experienced death as a family was in 1992, when my brother Donald Mugunde passed away in August, after being sick for a while and being hospitalized severally until the doctors couldn't do much so he was brought home, and his last week on earth was hard to bear, since he was not responsive in any way, couldn't eat, or even open his eyes, so we kind of new the inevitable would happen, though it still shocks you when it does, and so that afternoon as I was coming home from work, for lunch, I heard my mum's loud wailing and I knew that he was gone, I found neighbors packed in our house already and it was just sad. He was 22 years of age, the third born in our family and the eldest male.
It wasn't long before death came again, this time for Michael Mugunde in 1994, the 4th born and second male in the family, he was in KU going to fourth year, he was the "choppy" of the family, the doctors said he had TB and the line of drugs they used on him first reacted and caused his condition to become worse, he was 22years of age.
And stories began doing rounds that may be someone in our family back home had done witchcraft to our family that why it's only the male children that are dying and at the age of 22
So you see, I knew I was next because I'd be 22 in 1996, so we were dying at an interval of 2 years and at the age of 22, so I prepared and actually told a friend that if it happens so be it,
But apparently God had other plans with my life so I didn't die in 1996 but in 1998, death came twice as if to compensate for the skipping of 1996, and this time around it was my parents, Jacktone Mugunde on the 5th of October 1998 and then Mum Henrica Mugunde on 29th December 1998, it was some of hardest days we had, I was only 24 years of age but now the eldest male in the family
But death wasn't done with our family, and come the following year, the first born in our family Isabella Mugunde, passed away in August 1999 she was 32 years of age working and married in Nairobi an epitome of discipline and character, I first moved to live in Nairobi in her house, launching my stay in that city where I still have good memories and a lot of friends
At this point it didn't matter anymore whatever was happening to us and our family because it was too much too bear and handle, having lost 5 people in 7 years, the whispers were getting louder and the pain eerie but life had to go on
My immediate follower Emmanuel Mugunde was diagnosed with Schizophrenia in 1999 and the doctors said that it could've been because of the trauma, he was never the same again, a sickness he lived with till his demise
Death gave us a break for a good 16 years then came back again in 2015 April for Daniel Mugunde, he was 33 our last born, who passed on as we watched in a hospital in Siaya
and again 2 years later in 2017 for Emmanuel who was found in his room fallen and paralyzed on one side, loosing speech and the doctors at the Coast general couldn't tell us what was wrong with him but kept promising that a specialist would come to check him out and 4 days later he succumbed to whatever happened to him while we were standing there with my sister helpless, he was 39
So we remain 2, my elder sister Beatrice Mugunde and Myself
None of my siblings had any biological children and I'm left to carry on the legacy of our family, it has to live on through us who are still here
So you see why I appreciate the gift of life because, God has allowed me to see many more years than he gave any of my other siblings, with the exception of one, I need to live the lives they couldn't, do the things they didn't, get those degrees and masters, touch lives, change the world, bless people, live selflessly, for indeed I have received more than I deserved
Finally the post isn't about sympathy but lessons learned so far and one of them is that family is supreme and a gift to be cherished, it's also about the brevity of life, today we are here and tomorrow gone, just like that and it doesn't matter who you are, what you have or even where you are, when it's time to go, then it's time to go, we leave it all behind!
Take this advice from me; pick up that phone and call that brother or sister, maybe a parent that you haven't spoken to in days, weeks, months or even years, because of a "beef" between you two, it's not worth it, enjoy their company while they are still here, live, laugh and celebrate moments together, you never know when they might not be there to do that
Family is supreme and a gift from God.
I call my sister frequently and at least once a year because of distance I travel with my whole family, 3 kids and us and we join her with her daughter in Mombasa and we just enjoy life, shout in the house, go to the beach visit family and friends and just be silly.
We eat Mahamri na mbahazi, kachri, viazi karai, bhajia pale Naushad, we go to Kibarani with the kids and just live, you should consider doing the same, family should be "tight" because you never know if memories are all you'll be left with.
So ignore sp if any, it's C&P
Long Post alert!!
I appreciate everyone of you who took their time on Friday 14th to type those birthday wishes, I'm truly grateful for yet another year.
The reason why I'm grateful for my life is because I know too well the pain of loosing loved ones in a family, you see once upon a time we were 9 in our family (2 parents and 7 siblings, 2 girls and 5 boys), yet today we are only 2, my Sister and yours truly, yaani in a span of 27 years we've experienced death 7 times
The post isn't about seeking for sympathy or comments but about the lessons I've learned because of my experience
The first time we experienced death as a family was in 1992, when my brother Donald Mugunde passed away in August, after being sick for a while and being hospitalized severally until the doctors couldn't do much so he was brought home, and his last week on earth was hard to bear, since he was not responsive in any way, couldn't eat, or even open his eyes, so we kind of new the inevitable would happen, though it still shocks you when it does, and so that afternoon as I was coming home from work, for lunch, I heard my mum's loud wailing and I knew that he was gone, I found neighbors packed in our house already and it was just sad. He was 22 years of age, the third born in our family and the eldest male.
It wasn't long before death came again, this time for Michael Mugunde in 1994, the 4th born and second male in the family, he was in KU going to fourth year, he was the "choppy" of the family, the doctors said he had TB and the line of drugs they used on him first reacted and caused his condition to become worse, he was 22years of age.
And stories began doing rounds that may be someone in our family back home had done witchcraft to our family that why it's only the male children that are dying and at the age of 22
So you see, I knew I was next because I'd be 22 in 1996, so we were dying at an interval of 2 years and at the age of 22, so I prepared and actually told a friend that if it happens so be it,
But apparently God had other plans with my life so I didn't die in 1996 but in 1998, death came twice as if to compensate for the skipping of 1996, and this time around it was my parents, Jacktone Mugunde on the 5th of October 1998 and then Mum Henrica Mugunde on 29th December 1998, it was some of hardest days we had, I was only 24 years of age but now the eldest male in the family
But death wasn't done with our family, and come the following year, the first born in our family Isabella Mugunde, passed away in August 1999 she was 32 years of age working and married in Nairobi an epitome of discipline and character, I first moved to live in Nairobi in her house, launching my stay in that city where I still have good memories and a lot of friends
At this point it didn't matter anymore whatever was happening to us and our family because it was too much too bear and handle, having lost 5 people in 7 years, the whispers were getting louder and the pain eerie but life had to go on
My immediate follower Emmanuel Mugunde was diagnosed with Schizophrenia in 1999 and the doctors said that it could've been because of the trauma, he was never the same again, a sickness he lived with till his demise
Death gave us a break for a good 16 years then came back again in 2015 April for Daniel Mugunde, he was 33 our last born, who passed on as we watched in a hospital in Siaya
and again 2 years later in 2017 for Emmanuel who was found in his room fallen and paralyzed on one side, loosing speech and the doctors at the Coast general couldn't tell us what was wrong with him but kept promising that a specialist would come to check him out and 4 days later he succumbed to whatever happened to him while we were standing there with my sister helpless, he was 39
So we remain 2, my elder sister Beatrice Mugunde and Myself
None of my siblings had any biological children and I'm left to carry on the legacy of our family, it has to live on through us who are still here
So you see why I appreciate the gift of life because, God has allowed me to see many more years than he gave any of my other siblings, with the exception of one, I need to live the lives they couldn't, do the things they didn't, get those degrees and masters, touch lives, change the world, bless people, live selflessly, for indeed I have received more than I deserved
Finally the post isn't about sympathy but lessons learned so far and one of them is that family is supreme and a gift to be cherished, it's also about the brevity of life, today we are here and tomorrow gone, just like that and it doesn't matter who you are, what you have or even where you are, when it's time to go, then it's time to go, we leave it all behind!
Take this advice from me; pick up that phone and call that brother or sister, maybe a parent that you haven't spoken to in days, weeks, months or even years, because of a "beef" between you two, it's not worth it, enjoy their company while they are still here, live, laugh and celebrate moments together, you never know when they might not be there to do that
Family is supreme and a gift from God.
I call my sister frequently and at least once a year because of distance I travel with my whole family, 3 kids and us and we join her with her daughter in Mombasa and we just enjoy life, shout in the house, go to the beach visit family and friends and just be silly.
We eat Mahamri na mbahazi, kachri, viazi karai, bhajia pale Naushad, we go to Kibarani with the kids and just live, you should consider doing the same, family should be "tight" because you never know if memories are all you'll be left with.
