Mixed Grill

Sometime last week I got a heart wrenching piece of information from an old high school mate back in Nigeria and the mother of an 11 year old girl – Morenike. Her young daughter had died of what has been termed cerebral malaria just a couple of months into her first year in secondary school with boarding facilities. According to the distraught mother, her daughter had tall dreams and had been sent to this private christian school in an attempt by doting parents to give a child the best. She feels very bitter that those in whose care she she had entrusted her daughter failed the poor kid. For young Morenike, the sun had set at dawn. I strongly feel(albeit with a bias because I love my children to smithereens) that no parent should have to live with the unending pain of losing a child especially out of negligence. My deepest sympathies go the family of young Morenike.

By the time you read this, I may be some four to six hours away on a home search in one of the Canadian provinces famed for her 9 months of winter. God help me. Having lived a greater part of my life so far in the tropics, what have I got myself into. I have been told that this move is strategic and wise and would position the family for huge potential benefits. It had better be.
I will be gone for a couple of days and would be back in time for Papa’s track meet on Monday where he is scheduled to run the 100m and also the anchor leg for his school’s relay team. To ensure that he gives it his all, I took him out last week to the venue of the track meet so he could get a feel of the tracks in his new spike shoes. The regulations say no spikes are allowed so as not to mess up the tartan tracks. We have therefore taken off all the spikes so he would wear the shoes because they are light weight and if I must say colourful too. For a kid his age, he’s got ‘wheels for legs’ and I am hoping his ankle which is hurting at the moment is okay by Monday when the race is due. He had hurt his ankle at Sunday’s football game in Port Credit against a tough Mississauga Nerd team that virtually blew the Renegades away. The Renegades defensive line just could not stop the runs by the offense of the opponents. The Oakville team huddled together at the end bruised and battered but unbowed and promised pay back when both teams meet again in the season.

Last week ended for me on a bit of a low. I had gone to see a client in Etobicoke and had my SUV’s rear driver’s side pretty much messed up. The vehicle is currently at a Honda body shop and will leave me four grand poorer by the time I get it back after 5 days. To be set back by such huge 'smakaroos' hurts. Ouch.What was I thinking? The upside is that no physical injuries were suffered. On that sombre note, let me go get some shut eye because my flight is an early one tomorrow.
We’d communicate again on my return…