HUMAN WHO BECAME SAINT ALIVE

It was Saturday evening when I called to check after her health conditions then I remembered, I have a task of writing about someone who always comes to the aid of others. So heavy to ask for her consent but finally I started the conversation.

Am I worthy to describe who you are? I may not be able although I can insight a few scenarios that best portray the real you otherwise it will take decades narrating your heart and ethics of concern for others. If I forget any dot about you, I sincerely apologise but at this juncture permit me to cry out whom I have seen in you on a paper for the world to raise your light aloft. You may not have had the opportunity to be celebrated as a “superwoman” by the universe but I insight you because your extraordinary character is rare to find in this world where everything goes for something in return.

Why do all these, Aunt? I asked when I was 14 years during my term two vacations and she replied, "the more you understand that you possess nothing than a sojourner who has been blessed to live and share what you have with others, then you would have lived your mission because others are not guest to sorrows but life does not have the same opportunity for all; that is why coming to the rescue of anyone especially the abandoned even if it means immersing myself totally in their situation I can not hesitate. My little child there is no love for humanity greater than dying to offer life to another despairing soul.

As you can see such mind, is there any iota of doubt of the length she can go to aid others? Just take some fresh breathe as you listen to the tone of my voice.

Figuratively, she is a woman whom instead of her food not to get ready, she rather uses all the firewood that she has gathered. Countless times as a child have I seen any shapes and sizes of different miserable and hungry smoked human beings coming for assistance and she feeds them from her already cooked meal and as well offer raw food items for the next months to them and the faces which were hard to show up their 32 dental formulas go back smiling. She is a woman who has never refused her audience to anyone who seeks her attention. When out of season, I mean when all products such as yams which is our staple food in Ebonyi State has been planted, her yam storage still feeds those who have none to eat and this must be yams which have no spot unlike some personalities in my village then who will feed others after their stomach has rejected the meal. Imagine! How can a human being who longs for good things offer what they have rejected to another? We may shake our shoulders but that’s the reality. Others claim to offer rejected things to the less privileged because they have no option and that’s where they belong. My aunt offers the best and never blows her trumpet or twits it on social media for recognition, gain thousands of likes or floods of comments in appreciation.

More chocolate on your way, please!

The incidence of January 1^st, 2005 New Year day still kept me in wondering the kind of angel among humans with such a beautiful heart and an appealing physical appearance. Even at her old age, she can still compete for miss beauty and I bet you she will still be the best. That’s just a by the way. As I was saying before the brief hold up on traffic light, on that celebration day with a lot of excitement, there happened to be an accident of a motorcycle rider and a Range Rover car. The spilling content from the man who was riding the motorcycle terrified everyone beholding the scene and they thought he will die. My aunt rushed quickly without minding what may be her fate as the driver has run away. She held him up with her piece of cloth, asked for the assistance of a taxi driver who helped her in taking him to the hospital. She left us at home alone for one week just taking care of an unknown person until the man was able to communicate his portfolio.

On the day the family of James, the victim of the car accident was to come, she hurriedly paid for the bills and returned home. James longed to see her and convey his sincere gratitude for all the sacrifices she has made before his people but the nurse told him that she has gone.

After James was discharged, he came at the same scene of the accident and asked the neighbours if they could direct him to the home of the woman who saved his life but everyone hesitated and told him, “the woman you are looking for is the only person in this village who never like to be appreciated or recognised when she does anything good. Just go home and thank God that you met a good person on your death day and we cannot tell you where she stays because it is her way of life”.

Finally, in insistence, he saw young children playing in the football field just a few meters to her home and inquired, immediately they answered do you mean “Ozo onye na mgbe mkpa" meaning "who saves in time of need" in the Igbo language; this was the nickname the villagers gave her out of generosity. He answered yes though wasn’t sure. The children pointed at her home. Unfortunately, James never met her till today because he came when she was away nursing her daughter who has just delivered and James told us the hell he passed through and how she rescued his life.

As a divine mercy devotee, she goes to the prison for prayers and offering counselling to the prisoners with no charge. There is also a place in Ebonyi State known as “Segregation Centre”. This is where those who have been infected with chronic diseases like Tuberculosis and Leprosy are dumped. She goes to visit them with her little sacrifices to feed and give them words of consolation.

As aforementioned, her lifestyle keeps me in a questionable state. Her zeal towards coming to the aids of others beats my imagination. Currently, she has been ill for 2 years because she stepped on charms someone buried on her farm as she went to uproot some cassava tubers with a neighbour who had no food for her children. What a world! Despite all that she’s been through, she always comes to the aid of others. What a soul who never relent!

In truth, she is my role model. Her life made me believe in the principle that goodness never kill. When I reflect in those days how her priority was always to come to the aid of others, I come to an irrevocable conclusion that no matter how insensitive and inhuman some individual may become, never stop coming to the rescue of those in need because there is one morning which afternoon you not see and one afternoon which evening you may not have. That's the beauty of life. Aunt Virginia, You are the best and I love you so much for being that mirror through which the needy find their consolation.