THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER

I was at the burial of a 28-year-old man.
He was the second child of 5 children.
Went to all the best schools both in Nigeria and abroad.
At 28, he was the manager of his father’s business.
He owned his own house and cars.

He was engaged to a beautiful lady but he was always complaining that his parents didn’t love him as much as they loved the other children. Nothing anybody told him changed that conviction.

He loathed his mother and disliked his father
He said the other children were better loved and he would hold on to any excuse to prove his point while overlooking all the good things that had been done for him.

For example, just like his other siblings, he was enrolled in a private university in Nigeria straight out of secondary school. Then he got into trouble in 100 level because he aided and abetted a roommate to steal a laptop on campus just for the fun of it.

It became a police case and he was about to be expelled from the university.
When his father heard about it, he immediately flew him abroad to start all over at a University in the UK.

Whenever he would tell the story, he would say his father did it to “save face and protect his good name from getting spoilt.” He never saw it as an expression of his father’s love and a determination by his parents to ensure he had a glorious future.

The lady he was dating moved from another location to his location just to be close to him. She didn’t do it out of desperation, she did it out of understanding.

His father’s office was at the outskirts of the city and he was living close to the office.
He had little time off work and it was affecting their relationship. The lady rented an apartment close by so that they could spend time together. He should have been grateful but he saw it as her “fishing for a ring” kinda thing.

She changed jobs, didn’t depend on him for anything and yet he gave her a lot of grief.

On this Friday, he decided he was going to make everybody’s life miserable by killing himself.

He succeeded.

I guess death loved him more than his family and babe could ever do.

He had just bought a ticket for a short holiday to the UK and his lady friend had booked the Lagride that would take him to the airport the next morning.

He decided he would spite everybody.

I got to the funeral to lend a hand of support to this lady who wasn’t married to him but yet had to act as his next of kin.

All his siblings were abroad and weren’t bothered to come for his funeral.

His parents weren’t there too (for cultural reasons).

Strangers surrounded him.

This lady was the one wearing black and getting all the “sorry”.

She was the one that read the eulogy by his siblings.

She was the one weeping profusely.

I watched as people struggled to find something good to say about him.

The preacher didn’t know him.

Officiating ministers didn’t know him.

He didn’t have a good report from anyone or a relationship with anyone worthy of warranting a testimony.

Ungrateful people are by definition very selfish and difficult to please.

They are the center of the universe and all things must come to them or they will throw a 

Tantrum.

Some people here will say, “Maybe he was suffering from depression”

“Maybe he had a mental health issue”

“Maybe he was afflicted by whatever”

Please keep your maybes. Ingratitude is the root of certain evils.

If you find it difficult to say “thank you” or appreciate the good in others you need to watch it.

If all you do is gripe and complain day in day out, you need to watch it.

There is always something to be grateful for.

Ingratitude always keeps you in the negative.

Over time, negativity takes away all the bright colors in your life and sucks the energy 

out of your reality.

Everything becomes drab and bland.

Death then becomes the final way of giving everybody the middle finger.

After the service, I took his babe to lunch in the company of other young people and we ate and laughed and celebrated.

Then I paid for her to have her hair done and relax with some friends.

She didn’t lay that bed and she shouldn’t have to lie on it.

If you choose to die like a wild dog, you shouldn’t drag anybody into the hole with you.

You don’t deserve to be mourned.

You have ran your course, so goodbye!

The grateful will continue to live and shine as the sun.

You cannot control the reality of the living from the grave.

I made sure I explained this to his babe.

I am hoping she will meet another guy this week and move on permanently from her season with the selfish oaf.

Teach yourself gratitude deliberately, it will preserve you from extinguishing your own light out of spite.

I wrote the dear lady a note:

Dear sister L, that chapter was badly written, thrash it.

Move on to the rise of a glorious sun.

Choose a grateful chap this time, not some overindulged, spoilt delinquent who saw the cup half empty always.

I was happy to meet and share a meal with you today.

Enjoy the glorious future you have in the Holy Spirit

I love you

PS: The fellowship we shared today was quite good, I love the fact that you laughed so much your face started shinning.

You’re ABBA’s daughter of delight

-GSW-