I still retain all the lessons in love and understanding, effort and patience, duty and responsibility, honour and resilience.
I still retain the memories,
of the days in the hinterlands,
stuck in mud and stubborn earth,
and you hackened to my pleas
and made yourself light, they we may leave together
**
And on the days that you spluttered upon moving me through valleys and hills,
through winding roads and chasm-like potholes,** did I not nudge you on,
-in Madam Mgbeke's saintly name-
and you brought me home, within the hills of Enugwu Ngwo?
And on days when we couldn't go home together,
I did dream of you more than I slept,
carrying in my heart, prayers for your safety
till the new sun.
You showed faith Eleanor;
in return, I exercised the duty of care excepted of me
as far as my ability could drive me.
As you sit now, in silence,
I still regard you with all the love I can muster
I still relish all the memories
and look forward to another day
when I shall ride in you,
with that bewildering pride
that made someone quip,
"you ride her like she's a Range Rover!"
Yes, you are that, and more:
For a child's chick is his cow!