Friday, March 13, 2020.
This date not only had significance in the country but in my life. It altered some aspects of my life and shaped events that made me understand that we should always be grateful for every moment we spend with special people.
Friday the 13 is always considered an unlucky day by superstitionists. And Friday the 13 indeed was an unlucky day.
As the Minister of Health announced the start of the pandemic, attention quickly shifted to precautions and guidelines.
A month later, flights were grounded and that was when my wife was to return home from Australia where she went to study for her Masters.
Then started the story of my lifetime.
Married in early 2018, Shirley and I spent our honeymoon in Diani. We could have flown around the world I bet, but we agreed that we needed to spend soulful time together.
Especially after a year of crazy planning and the whirlwind of activities prior to the wedding.
Our honeymoon was organised to celebrate the simple moments of yacht riding, lying on the sand, and enjoying jazz.
We worked on a low-cost budget to save for our start in life. Bigger milestones.
Shirley and I enjoyed bike rides in Mombasa, ate local foods biriani, ukwaju, at local cafes and explored day-spas for massages and pampering.
But the most favourite part was sitting on the beach, listening to the sound of the waters, eating green apples and drawing on the sand telling stories.
When you're with the right person, wherever you are is the right place - I don’t know the depth of the truth therein but it was the right moment.
In early 2019, Shirley landed a fully sponsored scholarship to study in Australia for a year. Her masters. It was a year only and she would be back home.
“The stipend offered will allow me to save. It’s better that your cousin Lila is in Australia too,” Shirley stated as she packed her bags.
We held a family gathering for prayers. Had a reception and an afterparty and listened to our folks with their advice.
“Your marriage is still young but being apart for a year shouldn’t stress you that much. You two can manage. Keep praying,” this was my mum’s way of saying, ‘stay faithful, reject all temptations and pray’.
I laughed and she understood I got her message right. But in my head, I also heard that song Stella.
Hapo Ndege ilipotua uwanjani niliona vituko!!
Stella alishuka amebeba mtoto mikononi
Nyuma yake mchumba wake mfupi futi nne…
“Get lost devil!” I said a quick prayer and laughed at myself.
For a year, Shirley and I kept in touch. I had never had a long distant relationship, but we gave our best.
Talk in the morning and evening, send photos, and face-timing. Talking about every little boring thing we could get our minds at.
April 2020
Shirley was to head home but flights were grounded and the scholarship was over. So it was up to us to find ways to keep her days going.
As the year proceeded so tough were the guidelines.
One night she called me broken and overwhelmed.
“I can’t even go out. We are staying indoors all day and all night here in Victoria. The good thing is you sent the cash earlier from our savings account at Co-op bank.
The money transactions and delivery in the city come in handy.
“I miss home. I feel so lonely over here babe. All I got are photos of you and the videos and calling mum home. It’s terrible,” she cried.
She also had issues extending her Visa.
April 2021
Shirley moved in to stay with my cousin Lila and kept in touch with the embassy. She also landed a job at her university teaching and she opted to finish the one-year contract, save as much as we had spent to keep her afloat before traveling back home.
Her flight home was scheduled for March 2022. And I couldn’t wait to have her home.
A month earlier in February, on a Wednesday, I was asked to report to work on an off day.
I had spoken to Shirley and my cousin Lila on the phone and we were all excited that in a month's time she would be home.
My boss sounded quite funny on the phone but I checked in. The first people I met at the reception were my parents.
“Okay, something’s amiss over here. What's going on?” I asked, staring at everyone, colleagues, and some of my friends too.
“We have a surprise for you. Someone’s here to see you,” my mum said as they ushered me into the waiting lounge.
Shirley. With her beautiful smile. Tears in her eyes, looking at me from the other end.
Our emotional reunion was seen in the connection of our eyes, her soft touch, and the strength in the long-anticipated hug.
The relief, the pain, a million words spoken in the heart and a story told at a deeper level in the mind.
“But you were to come in one month,” I said.
“My flight was rescheduled and we saw it better to get you off guard. I just landed today morning. First things first and whole detail later,” she explained.
“But first, I got something for you over here. The best tuxedo I could get,” she stated as she already started planning a dinner date before a family reunion.
“This must have cost you a fortune to buy and travel with right?” I enquired.
“Nop, my other cargo will be dropped at home. This one, I paid for right here in Kenya. Told you the experience in Australia taught me a lot about savings and online transactions and I realized stores in Kenya also import.
“I had this imported from China. It's a Chinese brand. But this was made easier by the trader in Nairobi who I learnt trades through Co-op Banks Chapa Pay,” Shirley stated.
She added that Co-op bank accounts always have the Co-op Banks Chapa Pay, where you pay for goods and services online.
“The traders get more customers by accepting online card payments via Chapa Pay, which is Co-op Bank’s eCommerce solution! With Co-op Bank eCommerce they receive a unique link (Pay-By-Link) that they use to invoice their customers.
“If a customer makes a wrong payment, they can reverse the payment without you calling the bank for a reversal.”
Shirley detailed adding that business people do not incur any cost to get the Pay-By-Link solution as it is free to get on board.
I stared right in her face and looked at her beauty melting me away.
I hate surprises but sometimes things turn out better than we have imagined, life gives us many surprises.
Having Shirley back reminded me of how we ought to stop and take time to notice things and make those things around us matter.
We actually don’t remember days, we remember moments and have to enjoy the little things in life, for one day we may look back and realize they were the big things.
For me, I’ll always remember this as a story of my life.