Peaches

They had a very good business in Jos
She owned a provision store
She was a wholesaler/retailer for many manufacturing companies
Her outfit was very well known  
In a day, her outfit made a sale of at least #2 million naira
Her husband was a civil engineer
He was deeply involved in road construction projects
He also does massive building projects
He was a government and private sector contractor
They were very blessed
She built three houses
One in their village and two in the city
She put up the other two buildings for rent
Her husband built a mansion in the government reserved area
By all standards they were wealthy
They were a blessing to the church and their community
They had four children
Two girls and two boys 
He was a good and responsible man
He never strayed with another woman
His love for her never waned
And so was she, a pleasant and loving wife
His sunshine both day and night
Then came the sudden bite of the evil one
She was in the market when it happened
A strange loud noise!
Everybody ran!
She ran too, forgetting that she drove to the market
Later that day, they discovered that it was a bomb blast!
The government said it was a religious sect
Many people died
The trauma was crazy!
She couldn't sleep for many days
What if she had died!
She kept hearing the noise, she kept imagining herself decapitated
Scattered in her own blood
Unable to grow old as she planned
Unable to be the mother of the bride/groom 
on the day her children would be getting married
She told her husband her fears
He took her to the professionals
it was diagnosed as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
She told some of her friends why she was seeing a therapist
Her friends sympathized with her
The harrowing experience was a torment
One of her friends suggested a change of scene
Travel abroad, go to the UK. USA or Canada
Or go to Europe especially France, Belgium, Holland or Italy
It will do you a world of good
As wealthy as they were they had never left the shores 
of the country before
The therapist agreed with the suggestion
A change of scene would heal the broken fibres of the mind
They got a tourism company to arrange their travel
Within three months they were in Atlanta
They travelled with all the children and had a very good time
Her recovery was almost instant
The change of scene did her a world of good
SHe got her groove back
The feeling of dread, fear, terror and anxiety lifted
In all, they spent two months in Atlanta
They visited all the tourist sites
She made some new friends
And then they returned home
Barely a month after they got back home
She decided she wanted to relocate to Atlanta
She told her husband her desire
Their children were still young and could be enrolled in school
Education in public school is free
He could always get a job in an engineering firm
She would train and become a nurse
They would leave insecurity, bad governance, power failure
poor infrastructure, lack of basic amenities, poor healthcare,
Village people's syndrome, corruption, poverty, ritualists, 
religious intolerance, tribalism and nepotism behind!
Her husband was weary!
He was not one of those unfortunate people
who assume he had to move to the UK to be ok!
He knows how God had led him right from when he was 
in secondary school!
God told him by the power of the Holy Spirit to study 
civil engineering when he and his parents were 
convinced that he was to study medicine!
When he was admitted to study civil engineering
His Father wanted to change his school out of anger
His Father was convinced beyond doubt that he was 
supposed to be a medical doctor
He prayed about it and his Father changed his mind!
When he was getting a job, it was the same way
A renowned construction company from Germany 
wanted to take him
But the Holy Spirit told him not to take their good offer
He waited for three months before he got the offer that
eventually led to him owning his own outfit
He wouldn't just pack it up and leave without
talking to the Holy Spirit
He told her as much!
His wife fell sick immediately
Her blood pressure shot up to the point
where she couldn't control her right hand anymore
She almost had a stroke!
Her husband panicked 
He put up his properties for sale and started the 
relocation process
She spent a month in the hospital
By then her husband had sold their properties
The houses, cars and whatever else
He realised a whopping $16,000
They relocated the following month
It was Exodus!
They left nothing behind!
The travel expenses for the entire family  took about $6000
When they got to Atlanta, they lodged in a hotel
He joined a church the following Sunday and met 
some people from his country
He sought counsel and was introduced to an immigration lawyer
The lawyer filed a petition to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Services (USCIS) before applying for an immigrant visa. 
The lawyer charged $8,000 dollars in all
They got an apartment and moved in for $3000 a year
By this time all the cash he had at hand had been exhausted
He called some friends and relatives at home
He was able to raise another $4000
With a promise that he would repay within a year
The children were enrolled in school
His wife started nursing school
He started job hunting!
After several months, he got a job as a part of a construction crew
This was after he joined the union and paid his dues
He laboured very hard!
Things were tough!
The monthly bills were far greater than his income
His apartment was almost always running out of electricity
The tax was a killer!
His wife had to take student loan which helped a little
He suffered on for four years
His wife graduated and started working
But things didn't get any better
She had to repay her student loans
And he found no joy in pushing building tools with a good degree
He called his friend, the one he sold his construction firm to
Before leaving home
His friend told him he was welcome to return to the 
company at any time in a management capacity
One day, he told his wife he was returning home
He had mortgaged his future for nothing
His wife didn't understand it
How could somebody choose to live in a backward country
His wife said she was staying put!
They dragged it for many months
She wouldn't budge and he wouldn't give a quarter
Eventually, he picked his passport and left
When he got home, everything had changed
The friend absorbed him immediately
He got an apartment, settled down and started rebuilding
Within a year he had bought another plot of land and started building
They called each other every other week 
She gave him details of life abroad and the children
He gave her details of his progress at home
His one cry is for her to return home and be with him
She always told him she will never return, never ever
He finished the house and moved into it
His wife noticed that his calls became less frequent
Three years after he returned home, his wife decided to pay him a visit
She called him and told him details of her journey
But he was not at the airport to welcome her
She found her way to his house
She met a very beautiful lady and a one-year-old boy
The lady seemed to know she was coming because 
the guest room had been prepared for her
When he arrived home, he was very warm and happy to see her
He introduced the lady to her as His wife
And he introduced her to the lady as his first wife
She couldn't believe it
She was his legal wife and they were never divorced
He told her he filed for divorce in the marriage registry
 where they got married
The marriage was dissolved without any contest 
He remarried a year later
She slept in the guest room
The next day she moved to the house of a relative
She suddenly lost the zeal to return to Atlanta
She went back to her husband's house the next day
"I will take what has happened
I love you and I know you love me
I will accept your second wife as my wife
I will be a mother for her and our children
I will stay with you and grow old with you as we planned
I love you, please, take me back!"
He did!

PS: The children are all grown up and married now
The second wife's children are in secondary school
The three of them live in harmony
The second wife calls her "Mummy"
This event happened in Jos, Nigeria