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Back in the day when I was just 5 or 6 years I had this very close friend, he was my first crush, he was a cute little boy and I enjoyed being with him. We weren't living in the same neighbourhood, so I saw him during camp meetings and special events. At the camp, we would eat together, play together, sleep together and even get missing together. Our teachers in the children's camp then were amazed at the kind of bond between us, some of them thought we were siblings while some others out of concern I guess reported us to our parents but my friend's mum told them to let us be.
Time passed and we grew up, we attended different schools and universities so we saw less of ourselves. I still saw him sometimes but we became 'hi and hello' friends. At some point I noticed that my childhood friend was not the same anymore, I sensed that something was going wrong but I was not in the right position to talk to him since we were not close. I just left him assuring myself that he would be fine.
Some weeks back, my dad was not feeling too well so some leaders from church came to see him and my friend's dad was with them. I asked him about my friend and sent my warm regards to him. Before I forget, you need to know that my friend was the only son and child of his parents, so he was daddy and mummy's boy.

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Back to the call my dad received on Monday evening after church. My friend, the only son and child of his parents was dead. What!!! It can't be him I said aloud, it has to be someone else. My dad made several calls and confirmed that it was true. I ran to my room, I cried and prayed asking God to please have mercy and perform a miracle for the sake of his parents, his mum especially.

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 Early the next morning Tuesday, my parents were preparing to go to the hospital, I asked for permission to go with them. When we left the house I still had faith and hope that I'd meet my friend alive or at most in a coma. When we got to the hospital, we were directed to a room where I saw my friend covered from his head down with a white cloth. It still felt like a dream to me until we drove down to his house and the first thing I heard was the loud scream and cry of his mother, twas then I realised I wasn't dreaming, my friend was gone. I ran into the house to meet her, she held me and kept saying "tell your friend to come back to me, he can't die now". I couldn't hold myself anymore, I broke down in tears, it was a pathetic sight. More women came to the house and the crying increased so I left the women and joined the men in the hospital. When I got there, preparation for ambulance and coffin was already made. I went into the room to have a last moment with my friend and to be sure it was actually my friend. I took the cloth from his face, lo and behold it was him, I touched him and said my final goodbye. The coffin and ambulance arrived, he was dressed and we took off to the cemetery. My childhood crush, my friend was buried.

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This was the first time I saw and touched a corpse and this was my first time of visiting a cemetery. This experience left me in deep thoughts and gave me a clearer and better understanding about life. I'd share some with you.

1. LIFE is very unpredictable, live each day like it's your last.
2. In the cemetery, every individual has his/her own space. Even identical twins won't be buried in the same spot if they died together. You came to the world alone and you would leave the world alone.
3. Live your own life not someone's. Don't compare yourself with anyone. You are you not them. You would give account of your own life, so live your life wisely.
4. A life spent in God and with God is the best life ever. A life without God is a wasted life.
5. You cannot eat of the accursed fruit and live. You cannot walk on hot coals and won't get burnt. If you break the hedge of protection around you which should be God and nothing else, the serpent which is the devil will bite you. It is good to explore and be adventurous but please and please don't you dare, don't ever associate with the devil in any form.
6. Stay within God's grace, love and reach. All you need is in God, the devil has nothing to offer you but sorrow and death. You might seem to be enjoying the pleasures today but the devil is not foolish. What so ever you sow, you would definitely reap.
7. Always have something to be grateful for. When there is life, there is hope.
8. It's okay to love and be loved but please don't be too attached to something or someone so that when something bad like death happens you wouldn't die to.

Enjoy the rest of the week. Keep living VIRTUOUSLY.