True Story
Anna is a strong, cheerful young lady in her twenties, tall, dark skinned and beautiful, a replica of her kind mother. The Gboko-Markurdi road and BSUTH brought her to my path or will i say, brought me to her path. The circumstances though unfortunate, left lessons for a lifetime.
On her way home from an errand, a sad incident occured, a trailer ran into the bike carrying her and left her paralysed from her neck down. Anna lost the use of both arms and legs. I was carried into the female surgical ward, the same ward as Anna, and found myself beside her. We became neighbours,mates and students in life-changing situations .
It was all new to me, the sudden loss of autonomy, the idleness, the pain and above all, the thought that things will never be the same again. I was learning to cope. I looked over and watched as Anna's mother wiped her up, and met her every need. I wondered about her, I thought about what the future held for her and the cruelty that life puts us through - the uncoordinated tunes life forces us to dance to. She always marvelled me, the only sounds she made were melodious singing, not one day did Anna cry, not one day did I see her lost in thoughts, yea, maybe she wandered into her wilderness, but it was never a habit. The only constant ritual was her festival of songs. Anna sang through it all.
Many will ask how we could thank God in such circumstances, but Anna didn't ask, she did act. She praised God as the psalmist wanted- 'let everything that has breadth give him praise.' She sang because she could. Though legs could not dance and hands could not clap, but her voice always rang to fill the gaps. I grew strong just by watching her, she trained my voice to sing.
Life has been as fair as life can be, but facing it all with joy and hope makes the journey worth the while. I've met adversities, but I've learnt to sing, because Anna taught me so.
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