Today
is my birthday. I won't tell how old I've turned but just know I'm no longer a
child, but a man living each day circumspectly, and captaining my ship to the
best of my abilities.
I was
born in the thick morning fog and the biting cold of Kigezi where my father was
working as a health inspector. The fathers of the time knew how to wield the
whip, not wanting to spare the rod and spoil the child unlike today when
children sue their parents over a little spanking! My papa was a bold preacher
who loved raising the cane as he preached the gospel of morality to the
stubborn tots we were. I now look back with a smile of appreciation because it
saved me from getting spoilt.
We later
moved to our present home in Mitooma District where I lived with Grandma who
gave me practical lessons in industriousness; breaking the dry ground in the
sun with small hoes; living by the maxim that a man that does not dig (work
real hard) should not eat! I’ll forever be grateful, for she ingrained in me a
work ethic that has continued to hold me in good stead. There's nothing sweeter
than bread that you have worked hard for.
Tick-tock tick-tack
and I found myself at the university surrounded by exciting times; exploring
night clubs and chasing after shapely girls that were the objects of our
romantic fantasies. These were dangerous times but by the grace of God I
passed through them unscathed.
The
greatest lesson(s) learned so far, is that life is sweeter when lived with a
smile both in good and bad times. Don't dwell much on the betrayals and the
things that work not. Picking myself up and tackling each day with the optimism
that things will somehow work out for good no matter the disappointments along
the way, is what makes life fulfilling even in easy circumstances.
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