I am the 13th of 28 children. Do not adjust your seat, eyes, or ears. Yes, you heard me right. Allow me to take you back home with me, but just for a while. Not to Sugar Land, Texas, but to Enugu, in southeastern Nigeria, where I was born on the 4th of July in a royal family. Picture this: GROWING UP My father was a hardworking man, a philanthropist, a self-made scientist, a business guru, an Igbo man, and guess what? He was also a polygamist. Yes, he was, and in his late 20’s. He married four wives. My mom was the...
1712/2020December 17, 2020
24/7
Every night, after our nightly prayers, giving thanks and all, I tuck my children in, and an hour or two later, I’d crawl into my warm, cozy bed while “Freddie Teddy,” my ever first teddy bear, is fixed steady on one side of the bed, staring blankly at anyone looking at him, with the pink personalized ribbon around his fluffy neck. In my quiet moment, I start to reflect on a lot of things… my life especially. And at the end, I am always thankful. Many, due to different circumstances, wander the streets, with no place to call home. I...
1712/2020December 17, 2020
The Language of My Mother
When we teach, we learn. When we learn, we empower. And when we empower, we are unstoppable. I remember it like it was yesterday. The year was 2011. While on board back to Houston from Washington, D.C., one of the passengers fixed his beautiful blue eyes on me while I was talking on the phone with my sister, Priscilla. I thought he was entranced by my smile. Finally, he said to me, “Hello young lady. How’re you doing? I like how you speak. Your voice is crisp. I detect an accent. Where are you from?” “Thank you, sir. I am...
1712/2020December 17, 2020
The Way of the Mind
You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it. You must learn to see the world anew. — Albert Einstein With each passing day, the risings of the sun and the grand display of the moon remain unchanged. In that magnificent scheme, Nature is ever constant. But, it is not so with our grind through life. The consequences of our individual experiences change daily, however slightly. We must therefore make conscious efforts to apply definitive new models… as in the fine-tuning of past incidents that come roaring back to avoid keeping us unchanging. REFLECTIONS are usually surreal...
1712/2020December 17, 2020
Oxygen
Finally, we said goodbye to 2015. Many goals were accomplished; many dreams came true as much as many were aborted. Death visited many homes, uninvited and in some cases, with full intentions. Police brutalities in our communities made the daily News. The minds and bodies of children were tarnished because the ones meant to protect them were the ones that took advantage of their innocence. Some of our leaders were corrupt in mind and spirit; therefore, losing the very essence of the reasons they were made leaders… to serve with humility and selflessness. Hearts were won because true love found...
1712/2020December 17, 2020
The 9th Year…The Story of Rex and Ruth
Life is about discovery. Love is an adventure. Without friendship, there’s no love. Without like-minded hearts, there’s no love. When love is felt, it is likely shared. On August 31, 2015, I wrote a piece titled “The Dream of my Heart” and emailed it to The Huffington Post. Click on the link to read: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nkem-denchukwu/the-dream-of-my-heart_b_8057064.html. This here blog completes THE DREAM OF MY HEART… the wish for immeasurable happiness I was hoping this couple I call Rex and Ruth would find. They are your perfect example of what married couples ought to be. These two carried their love around. Actually,...
1712/2020December 17, 2020
The Caring Heart!
One of the most essential ingredients in life is the ability to love another human being as much as we love ourselves. For instance, one does not need to be a nurse to be caring but should be caring to be a nurse (Not a criterion). It makes this noble profession as a caregiver, fun and fulfilling. “True Love is selfless. It is prepared to sacrifice.” — Sadhu Vaswani Every woman who has ever shown selfless love and kindness to her child and another woman’s child is a Mother. God uses a woman’s body as a vessel for procreation. Now...
1712/2020December 17, 2020
The Reservoir
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. ~ James Baldwin I totally agree with James Baldwin. Thus, when we only exist, we inadvertently choose not to live. And so, to live, we must first breathe…freely, releasing all toxins from within and outside. Life is a reservoir of discoveries, hopes, dreams, love, adventures, and experiences. Therefore, there will always be in the air, joy and/or sadness, love and/or hate… The energy we choose to inhale becomes us. To survive, we must make no room for weaknesses, hate, procrastination, insecurities, ego, jealousy,...
1712/2020December 17, 2020
Cascading Of Hope
Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) wrote, “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without words, and never stops at all…” Imagine being hungry and having no hope of eating. Can you imagine that from the point of view of a child or an elderly living alone in a ramshackle bin? Imagine the throbbing, aching painfulness a mother feels watching her child fighting hunger pains? And, she knows she could never find anything edible, in the immediate vicinity, for the child to eat… to quench that piercing hunger pangs, gnawing inside her child’s...
1712/2020December 17, 2020
Hunger To Live…
Life is a gift. We must therefore, unwrap it with a smile on our face, and hope in our heart. Each day I see the sun, I see hope. No matter how gloomy the clouds are, I do not worry so much, for I know the sun is still behind the clouds. To live, we must do more than breathe. I remember the first time I touched a dead body. It was cold and stiff. My face wandered around his body that was lying still on the bed. He looked so peaceful. He still looked like my father. At that...
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