To lose a member of the family is one of the most painful and costly things that could happen to anyone. Even if the family is rich or poor, something will definitely leave their bank accounts or their savings. Not everyone considers the fact that they may be spending more of the money they intend saving if something bad happens to any member of their family. Some family members present in this world today will prefer to show mouth sympathy to their sick relative, some instead of giving financial aid to the one whom they knew all he needed is money to stand and solve his problems, they will prefer playing the roles of motivational speakers instead of dipping hands in their pockets and giving out to the needy family member.
Today is the day where I was left with two choices, either to assist some members of my extended family relations who were digging the grave for the Burial ceremony of one of my relatives or to give the ones who were digging the grave a little tip as to show support to the working young men. I chose to support them financially by giving a little tip but on a second thought, I knew that they needed a helping hand because they appear to have been exhausted from trying to dig the dry hard ground to get down six feet deep in this harmattan. My part of the world in eastern Nigeria is experiencing the worst harmattan season currently, a season which was usually cool and enjoyable in previous times but now day and night is hot like hell, most especially at night which is hot like heat from an oven.
Today's afternoon wasn't different, I saw the young men all get exhausted by taking turns and digging the ground and the old men were busy under the little shaded area in the compound and busy with the liquor.
After watching for a brief moment and observing what's going on, before I knew it I found myself jumping inside and took the shovel and digger from the young man inside and began to dig immediately after he climbed out. The ground was very hard and tough, especially trying to use a shovel on the thick clay section of the ground.
I had to break through the thick layers of clay soil using the digger and after I had broken the ground to some extent I now exchanged the digger with the shovel to pack out the tilled soil. It was a double work and very difficult because of how dry the ground is because there had never been rain for months.
After some time, someone outside informed me he's ready to take over if I needed some rest. I later handed it over to him after I climbed out. I found myself feeling light headed and needing to drink water but the feeling quickly went away the same way it came and I was left to battle the heat coming from the burning sun and it was an open compound with no shades outside apart from where the older men were shading themselves under the shadow of a building a bit far away. Somehow when my body adjusted to the heat of the sun I noticed the burning sensations in my hands and when I looked, I saw that part of my palm had changed to red like one who has sustained a serious injury but regardless of how i felt, I know I did what I had to do at the moment. After a little while the one deep inside announced he was tired and I helped him come out and I jumped inside and did what I had to do, finally the six feet depth was gotten and we all later left.
Tonight is the way of keeping and tomorrow will be the Burial ceremony of our late brother, duties have been shared and I know it's going to be a very busy day but we believe in God that tomorrow will be peaceful and without rain to spoil the ceremony even though canopies have been put in place. Though my hands changed entirely, I'm no longer feeling the pain. I pray for a long life this year and no news of any sudden death again on anyone close or far and even the death of relatives.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my post, remain blessed and always find reason to be grateful.
All images used in this post are mine except stated otherwise