Anya, I Cannot Say Goodbye

It was a beautiful Sunday morning.
I have just finished praying in my daily early morning worship to thank the Almighty God for the wonderful joy of being alive to see another new day.
Then I received the phone call. It was from one of my closest cousins.
“Do you know that Anya is dead?” Okotie asked.
“How would I know when nobody told me so?” I replied in shock.
“I called to let you know,” he said plaintively.
I was speechless for a while.
Anya was dead!
Anya, who relocated to South Africa in 2000, because he was bored of living in Nigeria.
Anya who was the closest to me in the 1990s and we even lived together for months in his flat.
Anya, who was the handsomest of his brothers and was the favourite of the girls and women in the neighborhood and in our hometown,
Anya, who taught me so many things, both the good and the bad facts of life on earth and made me wiser,
Anya was dead.
Another call came.
It was from my Sweetest.
She sent me a text message that I should call her.
I could not respond immediately.
I did not tell Hope, the Publisher of Supple magazine the bad news of the loss of my cousin Anya. I did not want to spoil his day. I kept it to myself until later in the evening. We drove to Okotie’s residence on Alhaji Kalejaiye Street in Shomolu, Lagos. It’s his late father’s house where Anya and I shared many things as we lived like one family. Okotie and Anya lived together in their father's house whilst two of the elder brothers lived in Canada and the UK. The one in the UK has returned to Nigeria and was not in when Hope and I visited the family to comfort the bereaved. They are the only children of my late uncle and aunt.
Some memories are forever
The memories that will linger
The memories of the good times and the bad times
The unforgettable memories of those we cannot forget.

The memories of Anya filled my mind.
I cannot say goodbye to Anya.

These Are the Times To Remember

Hello beautiful! Preserve family moments through pictures and more. Photo courtesy of Our365.com. (PRNewsFoto/OUR365.COM) NEW YORK, NY UNITED STATES 05/14/2008

15 May 2008 10:20 Africa/Lagos


These Are the Times To Remember

Timesaving Tips for Creating and Sharing Family Memories

NEW YORK, May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- MS --

From the moment a couple says, "We're expecting," the baby frenzy begins with friends and relatives awaiting the latest scoop, the smallest update. And as baby grows, so does the interest in new pictures and information.


(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080515/NYTHFNS5 )


New parents routinely turn to online resources for sharing because of the convenience and ease of use they provide. A site leading the way is Our365.com. This number one provider of newborn portraits in the U.S. offers families an interactive and "one-stop-shopping" Web site to share photos, news, get tips, and create baby-related gifts.


These are months and years of your life when you may be full of love, but short on time. Luckily there are fast and easy ways parents, grandparents, or anyone in your virtual community can enjoy and share the adventure that is new life.


Create a Keepsake


Having a baby involves a roller coaster of emotions and memories on which parents certainly want to reflect. A journal can keep track of those special snapshots in time. Plus, it is easier than you'd think. Create a digital chronicle of your pregnancy and time spent as a new family. With online templates and drag-and-drop page layout features offered by services like Our365.com, anyone can design and share an online digital scrapbook.


Meet Our New Arrival


Enlist the help of a friend to do the honors of sharing the big news of your new bundle when you only have eyes for that special someone. Again, turning to online timesavers can help simplify the process. At Our365.com a designated "announcer" can log into your account and send out a "Baby Bugle," heralding that your precious girl or boy has arrived. Loved ones can view password-protected newborn pictures by searching by name, hospital, or state where the baby was born. When you're getting settled at home, send more pictures at the click of a button - easy to juggle between sterilizing bottles or folding Onesies.


Wow ... How Time Flies


Photo documentation and picture sharing remains one of the best ways to preserve the memories of all your times together with baby. Uploading to an online photo database is a real timesaver, not only because loved ones can view images directly, but because you can create slideshows with personalized captions, as well as order gifts made with your favorite pics.


A high-capacity photo vault offers the opportunity to upload numerous photos to Our365.com so you won't have to pick and choose among favorite photos to share. Also on the site are resources, such as parenting advice, baby horoscopes, gift ideas, and so much more. You can even search Baby Namescape to find that the most popular girl's name in Montana is "Madison," while also blogging about the best diaper brands and uploading the latest pics from a day at the park with your baby.


Learn more about the services available in one convenient place at www.our365.com.


Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080515/NYTHFNS5
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Our365.com

CONTACT: Metro Editorial Services for Our365.com, +1-800-223-1600


Web site: Our365.com
Metro Editorial Services

Sing a Song for Mee

Sing a Song for Mee
In memory of May Ellen Ezekiel (MEE)

I have waited for so long
To hear you sing a song
For Mee with glee
For all to see
The cheerful smiles on your brown faces
As you chorus with classic grimaces
And I hear your melodic voices
Bouncing off the walls in echo
Frightening off the wall gecko
In the climax of your deafening crescendo.

Then I felt it
My eyes were wet
Even Jesus wept.
After he said, Lazarus was only asleep
But Jesus Christ had to weep
When he saw that Lazarus was indeed dead
Yet, Lazarus was raised at the command of our Lord
By the infinite power of his Word
And so, I have the hope
That the same voice will wake us up.
So, I smile through the vistas of the reveries
Of our most treasured memories
Because dreams die last
When all other things are cast into the past.


By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima
Friday, November 26, 2004.
9.45 a.m