I listened to this young man ramble on and on about how the bread seller on my street saved his life.
To culminate yesterday being international women's day, something really beautiful and magical happened to a female neighbor of mine and this went a long way to highlight the importance of being kind and empathetic in a cruel world.
I stepped out in the evening to get something and I was stopped by a young man who looked pretty lost. He was asking around for directions to the work place of one of my neighbors. I didn't have this information to give but since he seemed anxious, I decided to ask what the matter was.
“I really need to see her because she saved my life six months ago” was all he kept saying. Because of his determination, I had to rally around, asking other neighbours if they knew where the lady in question, let's call her Sarah, now worked because she wasn't a bread retailer anymore. In an ideal world, I wasn't supposed to do this because what if this strange man was a terrorist or something worse? But, something about his demeanor said his intentions were genuine.
One of my neighbors finally said that Sarah usually returned from her new work place between 12am to 3am. I told the young man about this and he said he was going to sit and wait for her to return. He also asked that I sit with him since I was more familiar with the vicinity and so I did.
While waiting, he gave me the story of how he was stranded six months ago. He had just alighted from a bus that brought him from Kano state around 11pm and didn't know his left from his right, nor did he have sufficient money to stay in a hostel for the night. In a bid to find a place to stay, he walked towards a narrow and dark road and this was when Sarah intervened.
According to his narration, Sarah told him not to go towards that road as it was dark and dangerous. Worst case scenario, he would lose his life, best case scenario, he would be robbed. After saying this, Sarah took him to a nearby lodge, paid for a night and bought a plate of food for him. The next day, he was on his way to his final destination. He didn't get the chance to say goodbye because he had to leave very early the next day.
However , six months later, he returned, determined to change Sarah's life and according to him, marry her. I wondered how he was going to marry a person he had only ever seen once in his life but the decision was his and Sarah's to make.
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Eventually, Sarah returned from work around 1am and after a minute of pondering, she recognized him. Her reaction wasn't joyful however, because according to her, he left the next morning without saying a word. Soon enough they did some catching up and the man established his reason for painstakingly waiting for her that night. When I saw that the two of them were properly acquainted, I took my leave as I was already tired and it was way past my bedtime. A happy ending indeed.
Now, I wonder if the young man had it all planned out to bless a woman yesterday or the universe just directed him to do it. Either way, he went a very long way to show appreciation to a stranger who saved his life when he had “nothing”. A proper description of a grateful heart.
The 8th of March is the designated “international women's day” but a woman deserves to be celebrated every single day of her life, if not for anything but for her achievements, her compassion, her empathy, her resilience, the list goes on. So happy international women's day to every woman out there. You are a gem.
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