My last two months in Kenya were love filled... a rough patch here and there but altogether lovely. I just realized how much love I have through the very deep friendships built over time. And before I get into the details of the different groups in my life I would like all of you to remember me by the joy you all filled my heart with when we met, the tears of love that welled in my eyes and the laughter we shared. Most especially my Dearest sister Bree, remember me by all the funny moments on our drive to and from work. I am the most honored human being on earth to have had the opportunity to care for you and love on you. I will continue to do so. My next chapter in life has been majorly inspired by your resilience, silence stoicism and most raw emotional pain I have ever experienced. I hope my next chapter brings smiles to all our faces.
So now, I literally choreographed this blog in reality. I scheduled the farewell sessions weeks ahead of time and I am glad to have met with the groups of people that mean the world to me. The groups of people that the US embassy would term as home/country ties. And yes, I will come back to you all because even though I am a global citizen, my major is my home continent Africa! :)
One more point to note is I wrote this because we will all evolve and change but documenting this is a great reference point for what we all mean to each other no matter how many years later we all get to reunite.
Campus buddies
It was six of us right from the start... we individually met in 2011 but truly gelled in second and third year. We knew this would last when we formed our Campus Buddies for life WhatsApp group on 11 Jan 2014. We ate chapo dondo together, walked to the Kabete falls and bridge together, cooked together when it was still legal to do so, and laughed excessively. All very different personalities but somehow we just clicked. Laughter has always been our common language.
We also got into each other’s hairs once in a while and sometimes one of us left the group but in the end, we knew we belonged together in some shape or form.
Our last two hangouts proved two things to me...
It doesn’t matter how long we spend without seeing each other. A love cemented through being in each other’s space is always revived when the same environment is recreated or allowed. The love comes back like a wave hitting so hard that tears well up in your eyes when you see each other again. That familiar pure love that has always been there surfaces too quickly and you just feel at home.
We grow, challenges come. Vulnerability is enhanced especially in our adulthood. There are things we didn’t say to each other when in campus. But we see each other and the safe environment has us just sharing with no reservations knowing this is your tribe!
I know you will always be there. I know that love for you will always be in me and I know I got your backs and you’ve got mine. I know I’m loved.
Now this has been one of those real groups of people in my life. Words that surface when I think of you... authenticity, humility, humor!!! My goodness, we laugh, we celebrate the present moment and we love. I never had a community in my hometown mainly because I’ve not stayed home long enough to form those deep friendships so I’d say I met you all through my sister. We always saw each other in church but it was the usual aloof ‘hi and bye’s. Nothing more. Then one afternoon Bree suggested we hang out, which we did. From then on, fat chance if we come to Nakuru and leave without seeing each other.
I love you Bironga for how deeply you take it all in - you have taught me gratitude, a sense of wonder and appreciation in ways no one else has
I love you Kerry for how deep you are... you’re one of those people one would dismiss on face value but there’s quite a lot I learned through the random road trips we took and dug into the realities of life that shape us
I love you Joseph for your stillness. Calm, soft spoken and sometimes aloof but always there!
Babu in absentia is a cut from a very unique cloth. I love you for the humor and laughter you fill our lives with.
Most importantly I love you all for the joy, laughter and reliability you bring to our lives. I’m grateful to have met you all and I pray for God’s richest blessings upon your lives.
B-ballers for fun!This is a wonderful team of people that I love so much. Our chemistry started at a dusty patch right outside one of the boarding halls labeled Kapenguria at Lower Kabete campus. Dust or not, we were determined to play. So every afternoon without fail, we showed up. Then a routine was formed to trek to Upper Kabete and play against them every Wednesday. Right after that game, we’d walk back to our campus, cook and share a meal exchanging stories in one of our rooms. Communities are definitely formed over a meal. I loved cooking then and was pretty great at it (I don’t know what happened because now, I can only manage bland diets 😂😂😂).
I was the only lady for a while and that played in my then Tom-boyish favor lol. Later on (maybe in my third year), a beautiful lass joined in and that changed the situation to odd two out hahaha.
When the idea to form a group and get together once in a while came to my mind, no one opposed. We had graduated and left university but I missed it all. It was around the time my sister and I were slowly assimilating back into our old lives while absorbing a new norm. So we identified a court, negotiated rates and the team showed up. We played at least once a month pre-COVID. I needed one last game as I knew it before leaving for school. I floated the desire to Josh and he made it happen! I’m so glad I got to hang out with most of you once more. To remember the love and the earthiness around this crowd. To reflect on how stories have evolved to work and family now. To remember what loyalty feels like when one is willing to come from Machakos and Thika for the love of the game and friendships formed.
To remember once more that I’m surrounded by love. A love that sometimes needs to be beckoned because not all love reaches out. Some love sits still and steady, yet ready to arise when called upon.
Where to start with this heartwarming group. Most of you are folks I met at Lavington SDA church. Since most of our Saturdays are spent in church, it was important we found our way to each other... where all our weekends could be spent in a similar manner; Sabbaths in church and then Sundays out road tripping or just chilling together picnicking.
We did short and long distance road trips, chill Sundays by the pool, uncountable game nights, endless banter and laughter through the night. We cooked together and also had our fair share of tears and hospital visits. One thing I know for sure is once we start hanging out, we never seem to have enough of each other’s company.
Thank you so much for speaking your love language freely. Thank you so much for surprising me and keeping me up past my bedtime. Thank you so much for the really well thought out gifts and most importantly thank you for prioritizing your kindness and time to be with me the past two weeks. I love you more than words can ever define. I’m so privileged that you’re all in my life. I know I’ll come back to you and as Zara and MNEK sing, I’ll truly never forget y’all!
Thank you for loving me right to my last minute. For coming to see me off at the airport - something that is very very rare for me.
So, this bunch is just special aki… the short version of the story would be I love you. I love how we can be straight with each other. I love our satirical and sarcastic humor. I love the space to be vulnerable that we create for each other. I love that you love me soo well. I love that we disappoint each other but when it’s critical, we are present. Feelings are caught once in a while but love always wins. We have individually had our share of pain but we collectively shared the burden. We’ve also been in each other’s happy moments and doubled the joy. I will miss you soo much. Thank you for doing your best to make sure I had a memory to hold on to on cold days. Just to know I have friends that have set the bar so high is enough. Again, nawapenda bure.
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| Don't fault me for picking this photo juu hivi tu ndio tuko...lol |
Then there are individuals I met because they just don't fall under any group. I met them individually and somehow that connection has been maintained individually.
Cheryl
You’re one of the very few ladies in my life with whom we discuss life ambitions, career plans, school options etc and have relationship/boy talk topics as an afterthought.
Your smile, your calm demeanor and your kindness are a true gift in my life. Thank you for always making time for us. You have shown me what ruthless prioritization with one's time looks like and I am so grateful that you honored me with your time.
I will miss our catch ups for sure and I can't wait to evolve together time allowing.
Faith Atieno Christine Gor!!! Where to begin with you! My past two years have been filled with your love and consistency. In this entire blog, you’ve seen and heard the most tears from me. You’ve known the ins and outs on my caregiving experience. You’ve been my dumping place yet again my source of comfort on that really rich side of my life. You earned and deserved to know everything I shared.
One thing you probably don’t know is you made all these other relationships worthwhile and possible. I’m an over sharer but some aspects only need to be shared with the right person and you were it for me. I had tried one that took advantage of that vulnerability but you were a true confidant. Thank you for always exchanging my heavy yoke with a really light one.
Thank you for praying and singing for and with me. Thank you for crying with me. Thank you for helping me compartmentalize. Thank you for pushing me even when I felt faint. Thank you for all the analogies you employ so that I get the point. We deserve the best love God has to offer and that I’ll not be shy to profess.
As we continue living out our stories, I’m praying the very best for you from the most desperate depths of my heart and I know Mungu atacheza kiyeye. I love you too much!
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| I realize we always talk at length that we forget to capture photos so this will do since I was still part of this day :) |
Aaaaah you’re truly a tailored heavenly gift to me. You’ve taught me so much on humility, growth and wealth. You’ve demonstrated love. Our walks within your lovely estate and Karura forest will always remind me of you. Thank you so much for all the love and grace God has extended to me through you. I lack the right words to describe our unlikely yet much needed friendship but I love you somewhat begins to cut close. Our talk about family and birth order will always be one with a lasting impression in my heart.
Thank you for being part of my professional healing journey reminding me that work comes third after God and family. Thank you for letting me in on who you are. Thank you for all the hugs when I needed them. Thank you for insisting and pushing me to have some hard professional conversations I’d never have brought up. I’ll always be rooting and praying for you because you totally deserve the best.
When my sister Bree got her pupilage that then rolled into an internship opportunity at the Parliament, I didn’t know it would come as a package with two wonderful angels. I said so much in person at our last pre-school in person get together but one thing I forgot to say is May God bless you and reward your kindness Mr. Masongo and Mr. Ombati. Primarily because if I was ever to repay your kindness, I’d never match up but ultimately because all we own is God’s. May you and your families never lack and never beg for bread.
Thank you so much for all the lengths you went to to ensure that my sister had an accommodating work environment. I know there are many other kind giant shoulders upon whom we stand, but you two will always be the face of it in my eyes. I’m privileged to have met and known you in my lifetime.
I love you deeply.
You come as one but stand as a million. Someone once said that to me so I’ll borrow the statement because it also applies to you and the role you play in my life. You’re my confidant, my closest and best friend, my beautician, my safe and happy place. You’re and always will be my person!! We’ve come such a long long way. You get me in ways very very few people in this life do. You know the whole of me.
Thank you for being such a blessing in my life in every way. Thank you for being rough on the edges and showing me perfect is never the end goal but rather humanity with deep soul in it. Thank you for walking the journey of life’s joy and pain with me. Thank you for remembering my life in such detail I never would. Thank you for being in my space even in silence. Thank you for covering my shame even when you didn’t know it. I love you too much my eyes well up thinking of you. You’ll always be the cloud with a silver lining! I pray so so much good for you because you deserve nothing less. Thank you for spending my last week with me. Thank you for being in my space so effortlessly. I will use this photo of you because you’re beauty in all it’s fullness. No human advises me like you do. You look out for me Lisa yaani, I’m lost for words. Thank you!
You are a beautiful ambitious soul. I love your sense of wonder and how you seek to grow holistically. You challenge me by all the goals you set and how you put some things into perspective. Though our bond may seem rather seasonal, I'd like for you to know that you are a very important part of my life. Knowing you has been a beautiful blessing and I pray the best for you. I pray you continue to find your footing and that you realize all the goals you set your mind to attain. P.S. I am looking forward to your podcast voice lol. Thank you for always honoring my invites especially when it matters the most!!
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| Even after pulling a Saturday all nighter, the photo had to be taken.. |
Keldine
I would say hands down one of the wisest friends I have. That wisdom is filled with humor and candor that I never feel reprimanded, only guided. Every time I’m battling my overthinking mind and investigating different points of view, you’ve been the one that keeps me grounded on our super objective Biblical principles. I’m so glad to have known you for the past ~11 years of our lives. Our goodbye chat was somewhat interrupted by the surprise party plan but all it confirmed to me is we can never really have enough time and I love you!
I’m happy for you on every progress you make for I know a lot of effort, soul and depth went into it. May your next steps professionally and most especially socially ;) be endorsed by God Himself. I wish you nothing but the best.
Thank you so much for dropping me off at the airport too. I love and will miss you.
To say I’ll miss you all is not a befitting statement. I know I was important to you all in different ways as you all were to me; yet again what I do know for sure, is that God will fill that void in our hearts beautifully. So what I’ll say is, I’ll continue loving you even from 12,000+ kilometers away and a 7-8hr time difference apart. I’ll enjoy the seasons as I’ve always professed - good thing I start with summer. :)
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| ...and so up and up I shall go... :) |
P.S. This is not an exhaustive list of all the meaningful connections I’ve made in my life. If I had more time, there are a couple more meetings I would have scheduled. Of a few scheduled ones that had conflicts and didn't hold. Of people that even made this next chapter of my life possible. Of strangers that became friends, or consistent family members. But then again, I’ll be back so I’ll see you all real soon.
I love you, forever, in all ways and always. D.
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| Ni hayo kwa sasa - let's see what the other side of the bridge has in store. |