We all eventually have to deal with death. People die. Statistically proven. 1 out of 1 people will die. Deal with it. I have made peace with that fact a long time ago. Yet I still hate funerals. I understand that nobody likes them. I hate them. Not because its sad and morbid and well ... sad. Its because you always learn things about people. And learning something about a person who has left this world really annoys me. I have so many questions. Especially because of my quest for talent.
On Saturday 19 September 2009 we said goodbye to a very very talented man. He could speak five languages. In biblestudy a week ago he did a prayer for everyone of his children, children's children and their children. That is remarkable in itself but what makes it more spectacular is the fact that he did it by praying for each individual. By name. I can't even remember half of the immediate family. Oh the things I want to know ! /dramatic sigh. If I would have to recount all the stories I have heard of this great man then it would take a lot more than these fingers could ever type. One that I am willing to share is a personal story. Nobody else knows that this happened except me and him.
When we were still living on a farm a few years ago they came to visit. Even back then he was old. Sadly the image in my mind I hold of him is of feebleness from age. Even more tell tale signs would reveal themselves. Memory. Weak body. He was so old. One evening , after everyone has gone to bed I snuck into the kitchen for a snack. Out of nowhere he appeared we started talking. At first I obliged out of politeness. We started sharing stories. Of course he told more because more of my life revolved around computers which wouldn't have interested him anyway. One story he told me stuck in my memory. It was of an old friend who was sick and on his dying bed. He was alone at home for the moment when a snake made its way into his bedroom to find a cozy place to sleep. As it climbed onto the bed the man reached for his cane and lowered the snake back onto the floor saying " Wyk satan". He repeated this until somebody finally came to his aid and removed the snake from the room. When he finished telling this story it was well into the early morning. What began as obligated manners turned into sheer childish curiosity. It was a night I would happily repeat and sadly would never again.
As we sat staring at his coffin I felt the tears well up inside me. It wasn't because I missed him. I did not grieve his death. It was because I knew he was with God. And suddenly I had an image of him bowing before the throne. Young and alive. Smiling. Happy.
Hamba Kahle Baba
I feel like a young and healthy idiot.
I famous writer once wrote:
" - What is it that a man may call the greatest things in life?
- Hot water , good dentishtry and shoft lavatory paper."
Cohen the barbarian in a conversation with Discworld nomads