Things Began to Fall Apart
(The year of no return)
At about 8 pm on the 31st of December, 2009. We were in church for a crossover service, as it was the norm.
The service was tagged “Pray your way into 2010",
Church was bustling with people, as the thunderous sound of the choir echoed through the church. We were encouraged to write our “prayer requests” about what we wanted God to do for us in 2010.
In the days that led up to this service, precisely, on the 10th of December, 2009. A family friend, Durotimi, told us how all the prayer requests she wrote down on the 31st of December 2008 had been answered, and it was evident from her new job as an HR manager; she was formally an admin officer. The new job came with a salary upgrade, so she bought a new car. She had a cancer scare that was later diagnosed as non-cancerous.
Durotimi raved about God and the power of prayer, most importantly, the benefit of writing your request for the crossover service. So, we went prepared to church that night. We wrote down our prayer requests. On the top of my list was “the protection of my family”. I do not want to mourn or cry over anyone in the new year. This request was followed closely with “I want 2010 to favor me and deliver my blessings to me”. Ikukoyi also wrote her request and Ma did the same.
2010 was going to be our year. Like Durotimi, we were ready to walk into the year that would deliver possibilities to us. 2009 was a perilous year and we had a narrow escape. Mrs. Bamiwo told Ma,
“I think you should be intentional about the new year. The events of this year should have taught you about the power of prayer and manifestation. You had a horrible year, we can all see that, but you can choose not to relive this in 2010".
Mrs Bamiwo said this to Ma when she came to visit us in the hospital while Ikukoyi was admitted. In the first quarter of 2009, I was admitted, and shortly after that, Ma was admitted. In May of that same year, the house caught fire, and by September, Ma was duped of all her savings in the bank. Ikukoyi was admitted for appendicitis in November of that same year. It had been a tumultuous 2009, so when Mrs. Bamiwo said the silent part very loudly “You are jinxed”, “ You have a spiritual problem”, Ma knew something had to give.
Durotimi came shortly after Mrs. Bamiwo left, so when we told her what Mrs. Bamiwo said, she was quick to tell us about her many testimonies and promised to invite us when there was any program in her church. We ditched our church for Durotimi’s church for the crossover service because of the many testimonies she claimed happened as a result of the 2008 prayer request at the crossover service.
2010 was going to be different. We had plans and projects in the pipeline. Life was going to be different. 2009 had been a hard year and we had no plans for a carryover of misery.
As we danced and sang our way into 2010, our hearts were filled with gratitude. We made it this far. We are here, in this moment that was not promised but happened anyway.
2010, Like the spice to a soup, we knew your coming was inevitable. We were filled with expectations for you. We could perceive the aroma of a bright year ahead of us- at least that was what we thought
10 seconds to midnight, we were urged to count our way into the new year, 2010, and we all did, and a thunderous Happy New Year followed. A sea of people hugging each other followed suit. Ikukoyi, Ma, and I had a group hug. “This is going to be a great year”, Ma said. “I can just feel that this is going to be my best year, yet”, Ikukoyi screamed out loud. ‘We are going to be so happy this year that we will shed tears of joy”, I echoed. We continued to dance the night away as we hugged strangers who were equally happy to see the new year.
2010 held so many promises. We had a tough 2009, but as the saying goes, “Though sorrow may last for night, joy comes in the morning”. We could feel that the storm of 2009 was finally over.
2010 felt like the biblical promised child, that was prophesied, thousands of years ago and has finally come.
But as a thunder, you struck, unannounced, dashing all our hopes and expectations away. You trampled on our emotions and you couldn’t care less how we felt.
First, you took the peace, then you stripped us of all our belongings, and you made sure it was in the dead of the night when help was unattainable, and finally, like a storm, you raged and took the one thing that we loved more than life itself- Ikukoyi.
You pierced our soul like an arrow on a mission and left us in agony. You drained us of all our happiness.
Oh, 2010!
They lied when they said, time will heal the wound you inflicted.
They lied when they said, I was strong enough to handle the loss, that you brought upon me.
They lied when they said, this too shall pass.
They lied when they said, that with time I would come to accept the loss.
They lied when they said, with certainty, that the wound in my soul would heal.
They lied when they suggested, that with time I would stop questioning the loss.
No amount of time is sufficient to heal when it is my soul that is broken.
Time didn’t heal me; it only taught me how to live because and in spite of the pain.
2010, the year I wished I had skipped like the trailer of a movie.
The year I want never to replicate.
