DECEMBER DOES IT AGAIN

 Thirteen years ago, 3rd December, 2010 was a regular Friday...a busy one at work...print houses tend to get unbelievably busy because for some reason, everyone waits until the last minute to order items they could have comfortably ordered in October. SMH. I was just getting in to my routine when I received a phone call from my sister's boyfriend to rush to Nairobi Hospital where my sister had undergone a minor surgery the previous night. I was to go to ICU. I didn't even know where it was situated but finally found my way and walked in to see a team of doctors and nurses working to resuscitate  a patient. And I stood there watching and praying for the patient. It's like I was blind. Or maybe it was grace. Because that patient was my sister. I didn't recognize her on that gurney. Maybe that was a good thing. The team of doctors and nurses seemed very laid back.....nothing like what you watch on tv shows or movies....the desperate actions to pull a patient back to life....the one doctor who refuses to give up and has to be dragged away by their colleagues and another doctor reluctantly calls it. That's stuff for the screen. As I was standing there, a nurse finally noticed me and when I said I was looking for Susan Kagori, I was quickly whisked away to some office to await the doctor. And they wouldn't tell me what was going on or whether I could see her. The fog was real. I sat there and had to wait for my sisters, my brothers and her boyfriend to arrive. When the doctor finally broke the news, the fog cleared and that's when I realized that I had witnessed attempts to pull back my Suzs from the darkness but that day darkness had the win. And December forever lost it's luster.


Today, 5th December, 2023 we are here dealing with the darkness again. Early this morning, death showed up again and took our cousin. She shares a middle name with my Suzs and and to take her final breath in December, two days after my Suzs.....devastating....heartbreaking. Kabura held me together as I worked on my sister's tribute and funeral program. Brought me water and fruits and kept me breathing through the pain of working with the designer to pull it together. She was there. Quietly keeping watch. And knowing when to take a break...even if it was only to the bathroom. It was as if she just knew what I needed. And now she's gone. 


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