The above was part of a telephone conversation i had with my elder brother on sunday, April 15th, 2007. A lot has happened since then, Festus had gone to London and confirmed Chioma's death. She had slipped into a coma after giving birth to their first child and never woken up again.
I remember the first time i met you Chioma, it was sometime in 2004. Festus had brought you to the house that day. I had know Festus for many years and he was more like a brother to me. he was my brother's best friend. They had been friends right from their university days, both of them were like peas in a pod and i admired their friendship.
I was surprised when i met you ,you were simply not Festus's type or so i thought then. Dont get me wrong, i mean you were not bad looking at all but the thing was i had seen the kind of girls that hung around Festus, had heard him talk about the kind of babe he liked he had even pestered me some times to hook him up with one of my beautiful, slim, tall friends (his own words). You can understand my surprise when he introduced this dark babe who was definitely not Miss world to me as his girlfriend. Later on, i would ask my brother if Festus was really serious about that babe and he would say "Meen! The guy really serious o". He was also surprised but later told me that after hanging with you on some occasions he saw the reasons why Festus was crazy about you. You were a real home girl, a great cook and you treated him like a baby.
You wedded Festus in July last year The closeness you guys shared was awesome. The both of you were so excited when you got pregnant and strated making plans for you to have the baby in london. Between yourselves, you pulled resources to ensure that the best care available was gotten.
The pregnancy had progressed well and in March,2007 , you had taken your maternity leave from the bank where you worked and jetted to London to prepare for the delivery. You were very confident of a safe delivery and you did give birth safely through a Ceasarian. You even breast fed your baby but alas! death was lurking, you drifted into a coma in which u never woke up from. You left behind your beautiful baby, a heart-broken husband, inconsolable parents& siblings and so many sorrowful friends.
You will be laid to rest on Friday, May 4th and though i wont be there(its been held in the village), I will be here praying you rest in the bosom of the lord.
Rest in peace Chioma.
