John Aduma

STORMS EUNICE, FRANKLIN, GLADYS, AND LIFE’S ‘STORMS’, PART 2

“Let him learn early that

the bullies are the easiest to lick…

Teach him, if you can,

the wonder of books…

But also give him quiet time

to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky,

bees in the sun,

and the flowers on the green hillside.”

Abraham Lincoln’s letter to his son’s teacher (Stanza 3).

***Continued from Part 1

The strength of the wind was such that I had to fold my big black umbrella as it was not helping me in any least way, and I got wet very thoroughly by the rain cascading down upon me in a Niagara Falls-like force.

But one thing was certain, rather than moaning my fate about that stormy weather, I became philosophical, equating Storm Eunice to life’s real ‘storms’ which comes to all human beings at one time or another in their life’s journey.

‘Storms’ of life do often come to one/people in form of sickness, broken homes/marriages; naughty boys and girls giving their parents and society, including the police a hell of time, making life very unbearable to all concerned, including dem naughty boys, girls themselves; boys and girls failing their exams; Daddies and Mummies losing their jobs; failing marriages, leaving kids confused and sometimes permanently destroyed/damaged; boys jilting girls and girls vice versa; life of drugs and living on the fast lane of life; kids joining bad companies such as gangs; selling drugs and acting like drug mules; youngsters staying in alleys and subways, thus scaring passers-by and to the displeasure of their parents and the policing authorities; building failures as during Storm Eunice; challenges faced by the elderly – grand dads and mums; fears and anxieties of leaving home for the first for universities; challenges of becoming 18; debts with bailiffs hounding mums and dads constantly, and sometimes leading to alcoholism and premature deaths; pressures from mountain bills; one’s house repossessed by the mortgagors; wayward children, not doing well at school, children’s rebellious tendencies, driving parents and other relatives mad; poverty – urban/child; travails faced by one when looking for jobs; period of sleeping rough due to homelessness; wars leading to migration as happening now to Ukrainians fleeing Vladimir Putin’s war of blame; bad times generally, including migration from all over Africa and Asia due to wars or the effects of climate change; all sad and unhappy/unpleasant experiences of life, including all life’s pressures generally speaking, which every one of us human being will have to go through at some point and stage in our lives – all kids and all young people without exception, whether poor or rich, whether you live in poverty-stricken areas or in posh – affluent and wealth-to-do areas – these storms of life or life misfortunes will sure dog your path sometime, some day.

Also, these storms of life include hard times for people, especially single parents, parents whose kids never, ever bring them joy but sadness upon sadness and sorrows upon sorrows; some young people joining gangs and bringing sorrows to their parents and society, teenage pregnancies, getting radicalised and turning from a hitherto good young person to a sorta monster, now strapping bombs over one’s shoulder and going to a very crowded place to detonate it – thus, ending up killing oneself and hundreds of others; stabbing of youngsters by some bad gang members, including all the crazy times and stuffs too numerous to mention here.

***To be continued.

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