In Mourning

Let's be honest. Bad news isn't altogether terrible until it affects you personally. I was in church this morning when I received a BBM broadcast that a Dana flight in Nigeria had crashed. I continued listening to the sermon. People in Nigeria are fond of broadcasting just about any piece of information they receive without confirming its veracity, you see. Meanwhile, I'm sitting there with my newly done pink nails, Steve Madden pink shoes and a Jess Simpson plaid dress, waiting for church to be over. Today, service felt unusually long, not because of the BBM broadcast but I just felt tired... This will all tie together in a second.

I walked out of church at some point, got into my car, put on my sunglasses and headed home. On checking my BBM updates, people had put up display pictures of candles or just blank darkness. Their profile messages read "R.I.P." Some put up photos of those they knew on the Dana flight. My friend Azra put up a picture of her now-late pilot-colleagues. It was finally beginning to sink in. I sat in my chair, very sad. My mind raced to "was it a maintenance/operations problem: the fault of the owners of the plane" or "was it just fate?" Couldn't it have happened anywhere in the world? I didn't want to be quick to blame the lawlessness of Nigeria as we Nigerians are very prone to. I wanted to give the country a benefit of the doubt. I still do until forensic results are out...

As the day wore on, my high school classmate sent me a text mentioning the name of one of our former primary school classmates. She suspected her dead, but another BBM broadcast I received had not mentioned her name. My friend must have been mistaken. I said some prayers and went to the ThisDay website. I found her name. NOW, it hit home. Tears flowed down my cheeks. She had contacted me just a year ago or so, after over nine years of our walking different paths in life.

Photo credit: ThisDayLive.com

 So, in all, on the one hand, I'm sad, grieved, in mourning. But what do you say when you live and another doesn't? I dressed up this morning, making sure to look my best as usual. I was irritated by the two ladies sitting in front of me talking throughout the sermon. They distracted me enough to get me to notice their "terrible hairstyles"... Meanwhile, miles across the ocean, a devastating event occurred.

Y'all, everything is futile when you think about it. In one moment, we WILL lose our lives. What will we have to show for it? An LV bag? Versace shoes? I'm not saying "don't look good" or "don't dress well." I'm saying, LIFE COMES FIRST! Do what makes you happy, love your body, love yourself, and more than anything, be grateful for your lives!