If u are a Christian, u would know this song, Peace be still
It is what we sing when death and troubles come your way
I first heard my father, Sammy, sing it when he lost his father.
He was jobless and struggling to feed his family when the sad news hit him that he had just lost his father.
He rallied round, raised some funds, and went to bury him.
Upon his return, still jobless, he was hit with another news – his mum had just died
He had lost two parents in one month while he was penniless.
What more could hit a man?
He sat on a chair, naked but with a wrapper and started singing the song
He had a beautiful baritone voice and sounded like Barry White when he sang, and my mum Eno, whose voice was like a nightingale, joined
Peace be still, peace be still….. They sang.
Both were in tears as they sang, and with me just staring at them, tears welling up through my eyes, I stood up to hug my mum as they continued with the deeply sorrowful dirge.
When my own turn came with Mena and my mum dying within six months of each other, I paid someone to sing the song for me
I cannot sing to save my life, so my sister got a beautiful singer who sang me to tears
Today, my sister has been hit. She just lost a trusted and wonderful big aunt just an hour ago
This aunty took care of my mother for years.
She carried my mum, bathed my mum, gave her drugs and generally just surrendered her life to serve my mum
She moved into my sister’s house to give my mum 24-hour care for free
She wasn’t paid, and she didn’t need to be paid, as she became a good shepherd for my mum
I remember seeing her look so downcast the night my mum died, and I also remembered thinking in my mind that this one was crying more than the bereaved
Immediately after, she transferred her services to my sister, becoming that one’s sister, helper, nanny, big aunty and all of that
She was the head carer for my Nephew and Niece. She gave them their bath, fed them, and generally just protected them while my sister went to work
This afternoon, she just died like that. She had been ill for a bit and collapsed last week, but recovered
This afternoon, she just died. I have called my sister, and she is being strong, but you could tell from her voice that she was distraught
My sister is a strong woman like her mother. She knows how to take charge, while I, the Head of the family, will dodge from cowardice – the corpse will kill me
We have spoken, and she has taken charge, leaving me to do my own part, which is to write this article in mourning
We will bury her and support her family, and we will sing that song that we have always sung – peace be still at a funeral
It is not well, I swear. It is not well.
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu