By Jude Atupulazi
All those who knew him have only one thing to say: he was a good man, affable, kind, gentle and accommodating. I’m talking about Paulson Okeke, my longtime friend, who passed away not long ago. He fell victim to the latest killer in town: SLUMPING AND DYING.
Paulson had finished his day’s business that fateful day and gone home. He was with his wife in the kitchen as they talked and the next thing the wife saw was her man falling on the floor. She initially thought it was some joke but would soon be hit by the stark reality that Paulson was dead. Just like that!
This was one death that shook Awka as Paulson was pretty well known in many circles. He had many friends. Some who had seen him that day or a few days before could not believe what they were hearing. But as the story gained traction, they too, like the wife, realized it was indeed true.
Since last year many high profile Nigerians have been falling victim to this new scourge. It was as if some stuff had been blown in the air which anyone who inhaled it fell down. And it has not gone away. Many have fallen after Paulson and many more will still fall. Scary? Yes, but it’s beginning to look like what we are going to be living with.
Paulson was not a drinker. Neither was he a smoker. These are two things usually associated with weak health. Yet, Paulson died.
Was it low BP? Was it high BP? Was it a stroke? Only the doctor will know, but such knowledge won’t help him one bit now.
However, his death and the nature of it once more serves as a lesson to the living that this life remains ephemeral, fleeting and evanescent. What happened to him and to all those it happened to before him can happen to anyone. It’s a warning to us that amid life, death lurks and this is the reason we should not boast, look down on others or maltreat them. Most mortuaries, if not all, are like a stadium that has no VIP section. Everyone stays at the popular side.
When Paulson was going home that evening he never thought he would be lying among the dead in the mortuary before the next morning. When I picture him in my mind’s eye lying in the mortuary I always shiver, knowing it could be me any time.
Really, this life is nothing and its nothingness usually tends to hit one when one loses someone dear. I suggest that one takes occasional trips to mortuaries. It will serve to tame egos and make one appreciate the gift of life.
The mortuary isn’t where muscles are flexed. It is a leveler. It is where the rich share a bed with the poor, a general meeting point where there’s no chairman; everyone is equal.
I pity those who gloat when those they don’t like die. Everybody will die. What remain uncertain are the time, place and manner of death. People have died while driving, eating, sleeping and even praying.
My friend’s mother died while kneeling and bending over a chair praying. It was only after they wondered why it took her too long that they nudged her to finish her prayers only to get no response. She had passed on.
You see this life? Don’t take it too seriously. Create time to be happy, even if some people around you seek to make your life miserable. Hang out with friends. Work hard and play hard. Never take your office work to your home. Leave the stress of office work in the office. Find a passion and luxuriate in it, for, as they say, we only live once.
There’s none so mighty, so powerful, that death won’t claim. So live happily the much you can. Everyone has problems but those problems should not be allowed to overwhelm us, for no matter how you worry, the problems will remain.
Live a simple and uncomplicated life. Don’t take up more than you can handle. Limit the associations you belong to. I know people who spend weekends attending meeting after meeting, and that is after stressing themselves at work. If people like Paulson who don’t stress themselves much can slump and die, how much more you that don’t rest.
Live in peace with your colleagues, neighbours and friends. Enmity creates problems. Take delight in little things. Don’t overreach yourself. Mind your lane and stick to it as destinations are not the same.
Above all, exercise, feed well and have sincere friends of like minds.
Good night, Paulson
