Tide Turner

He was the one from a poor background, 
she was from the upper class
Her family was extremely close-knitted, 
he was a total outsider
She was the one that came after him, 
She did so in a subtle way but the intention 
was quite clear
At the time it was a jolly good ride for him 
He felt he had nothing to lose
She was beautiful, Ivy league educated, 
financially secure and had a very warm
 heart
What else was he supposed to be looking 
for?
They courted for a year
In that one year, he made an observation
Her two older sisters in the UK
were divorced with kids
She told him her sisters got married too 
early and both their marriages crashed 
in the fifth year after they had their 
second babies
The stories were untidy but it was summed 
up as the marriages started very gloriously 
but towards the third year of marriage 
things went sour 
Her sisters started gathering pieces of 
evidence against their husbands so that 
they can get custody of the children
From voice notes to videos and chat records
They kept a record of everything that 
could help them get a favourable judgment 
against their spouses in the court of law
 Like a peacock, she told him how smart 
their parents were and how her sister 
were advised by their mother to protect 
themselves and safeguard the future 
of their children at all cost at the expense 
of their unfortunate husbands
She was twenty-seven at the time
He was thirty! 
They got married without much fuss
Unlike her older sisters, she had issues 
conceiving due to some hormonal 
challenges
They opted for IVF after two years of 
trying other options
Her parents volunteered to pay but 
the idea didn’t sit well with him
He was into printing at the time
He got some jobs and was able to 
raise the money
He paid for the procedure
They had a set of twins
He was a very good father, his children 
were his life
As soon as the children clocked six 
months, he noticed an unusual and 
unsettling pattern
His wife would take the children to 
Her parents' house for the weekend 
to spend time with their grandparents 
 she would blatantly refuse to take 
them to his parents even for a 
few hours visit.
His parents were not as educated as 
her own and she would insist the
children would pick up local dialects 
from his parents because they were
 at that stage where they could easily 
pick up stuff
He never could understand it
Whenever she spoke like that, it 
sounded to him like she was insulting 
his parents and it always made him 
feel terrible
They had a lot of arguments over it
Eventually he decided the children 
would either be made available to 
both grandparents or none
He didn’t want his children growing up 
knowing only her part of the family
She defied him and took them to her 
parents whenever she wanted, even 
on weekdays
Her parents also visited anytime they 
Wanted but his own parents had to lobby 
and complain before they get to visit 
once or twice a year
He was hardworking but she was still 
wealthier than him by virtue of her 
parent’s support
She placed the children in a school she 
knew he couldn’t afford, insisting all he 
had to do Was give her whatever he had 
as a form of support
He felt the most expensive is usually not 
necessarily the best and the children 
could get the best from a less expensive 
school but she wouldn’t reason with him
She always insisted that her father told 
her to put her children in 
The most expensive schools
He coped until he stumbled across some 
messages on her laptop
Her cache of evidence against him
It was crazy
She had recorded all their volatile 
conversations and doctored them in 
such a way that it felt as if he was a 
raving lunatic who spoke on and on 
without a single response from her
He stumbled across the file on a 
public holiday
She had taken the children to her 
parents and he was searching for a 
movie she had on her laptop
He wanted to watch it to while away time
He listened to the voice notes and read 
the chat records
He started praying for divine help
He knew it was over!
She had begun to build her case 
against him
He sent a voice note to the brother 
in Jeans and T-shirt on WhatsApp
“How can you help me sir?” That 
was all he said
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt 
called him and prayed with Him
The following weekend, their church 
pastor sent for him
He got to the pastor’s house and met 
his wife
His wife had told the pastor she wanted 
to be separated from him and presented 
her evidence
He was depicted as a violent man who
could cause her and their children 
bodily harm 
The pastor tried to mediate to no avail
His wife says she wanted at least six 
months separation to see if they can 
still continue
She had rented an apartment and 
furnished it
She was going to keep the children 
because he couldn’t afford their bill 
and she can
The pastor asked him what he had to say
He told the pastor he wanted to keep 
his children
The Pastor said no court of law would 
award three year olds to a single man 
when they have a living and healthy 
mother
He told the pastor he would fight with 
everything he has got
The pastor told him it would be a waste 
of time given the evidence before him!
It was a no win situation 
He called the brother in Jeans and T-shirt, 
“God has failed me sir, they have taken 
away everything, my wife and children
 are gone. I am now a desolate man!”
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt told 
him to laugh!
Just laugh and shake the pastor’s hand 
and leave
He did as instructed.
She moved out with the children that 
night
He sat in his sitting room drenched in 
tears as her parents and sisters 
accompanied by four mobile policemen 
came to the house with her to take 
everything
He slept in the sitting room, afraid to 
go to his own room or see the 
children’s room on the way there!
His worst nightmare had happened 
and God was asleep.
On Tuesday morning, one of his wife’s 
older sisters called him
She said he was needed at a hospital 
called Soteria
He found his way there as quickly as 
possible
He met all of them at the reception
They said his wife was suffering from 
mental exhaustion
The children had refused to eat or drink. 
One of them was stooling while the 
other was vomiting
Their song was “Daddy”
(They were asleep when he got there)
The psychiatrist told them the separation 
was too sharp for the children 
They had to eat the humble pie and 
send for him!
He didn’t see her
He was too happy to return their daughter 
to them and keep his children
A week later, he got a life-changing 
appointment with a firm desperately in 
need of his expertise as a marine engineer 
in Qatar
He moved!
 

PS: Her husband would often say God 
turned his story around just as he was 
about to give up
He moved to Qatar with his children 
within six weeks
His wife got better and joined them 
three months later
Her family realized she wouldn’t get 
better without her husband and children 
Glory be to God