This happens to be my first contest since I resumed back fully on steemit and I am hoping that fortune smile on me. But before I go ahead to do a little introduction about the topic, I’ll love to call on @adeaze, @blessingogah-1 and @eurogee to join this contest.

INTRODUCTION

You might see the topic and first thing that might come to your head is to loose a love one. I’m sorry to burst your bubble, that’s not where this topic is leading to. Farewell in this contest is talking of the mixed feelings of emotions when you leave a particular place in your life..

Well, as we go further, I’ll elaborate more on it.

MY FAREWELL FROM HOME!!

If you were born into a military or a police force family, you will grow up to know that farewell isn’t really a big deal. In fact, you learn to get use to it from time to time because of the too many transfer from one state to another due to the nature of your parents line of work! In my own case, my parents was never steady in a particular place for too long. I can’t even count how many states I’ve been to but one thing is certain as long as Nigeria is concerned I’ve been to the four cardinal point of the country, from north to south to east and to west. Among one of my missionary journey, I’d one most profound that I want to talk about. It might sound funny but don’t judge me because In this story a girl was involved.

You know that feeling you get, when you finally moved to a new place against your wish because of the many friends you have made at your former place and the fact that you’ve to start life all over again makes you feel cranky and rebellious all the time to your parents. But, you see in this situation, it was different. My mum got her transfer letter that she was to moved to Port Harcourt , that was how the whole family moved down from Lagos to Port-Harcourt including my dad as well because he had newly secured a company job over there. In fact, he was already there before us and I think that was what prompted this transfer. I was feeling so moody and angry throughout the journey. When we got to the officer’s quarters, guess who was sitting in front of the empty apartment that we were meant to occupy, taking fresh air??? A beautiful and fresh girl living around the neighborhood. In fact, she was the best welcoming gift I saw that changed my mood from angry bird to happy bird…

Few days after we’ve settled down in the barracks, I started strolling about like one stray puppy looking for my “missing rib” as young as I was. You know the funny thing about everything, even if I’d seen her that day in person, I wouldn’t have had the courage to walk up to her to start a conversation. I was always so scared to do that when it comes to approaching a stranger that’s a girl except unusual circumstances bring us together.
Well, my journey that day around the barracks was in vain because I didn’t see the girl. I saw her about few weeks later and I noticed she’s this type that loves her space because each time I see her, she was alone in deep thoughts. Sometimes, I wonder what was going through her mind.

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Days I’ve turned into weeks and weeks have turned into months and I’m yet to talk to this pretty damsel. I was just deceiving myself practicing In mirror the pick-up line to at least start a conversation with her. In the end, when I see her, I’ll just have cold feet. When I realize that I couldn’t do it on my own, I started begging my kid sister to become friends with her. That way, it would be easier to gain access to her. My sister would be the middleman for me!!😂😂 This my crazy sister refused oh! I had to bribe this girl with part of my school lunch money before she agreed to the deal.

Well, the “Plan B” worked. My sister and the girl became friends and she frequent our house more often. That was how me and this girl became friends but deep down, I’d this feeling that this girl was know longer coming to the house because of my sister this time around but it was because of me. It was just for me to say the 3 magic words “I love you” and everything else will fall into place but fear of even loosing the friendship we have won’t let me try it. I just had to try something out. Back then, phone was really scarce to communicate with each other…. I’d to write a “love letter”, stole my mothers perfume to spray on the letter to give it a good fragrance 😂😂 I gave it to my partner in crime (my kid sister) to hand it over to her. My kid sis was able to put in some few words and that was how our love story started. Well, we were still small and indeed the love story was beautiful and innocent. Till today, my sister still abuses me because of that girl.

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HAVE YOU EVER HAD TO LEAVE INVOLUNTARILY, EITHER BECAUSE OF SEPARATION IN MARRIAGE, A DISMISSAL FROM JOB OR SEPARATION FROM FELLOW STUDENTS? TELL US ABOUT A SINGLE CASE!!

Yea.. I was separated from my loved ones.

During the peak of my love story with my new found love, I was separated from my family. Back then, if you were stubborn, what parents usually do was to send you to a boarding school that will discipline you very well, so that when you come back home during holidays you’ll be as cool as “cold water”. My parents have always told me that they will send me to boarding school that I’m too stubborn. I never took them serious because none of my senior ones went to boarding school, why will I’ve to be the first person. I never knew they took the threat very serious.

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Before, I could say anything, I saw myself in a boarding school and this is not just the average boarding school will know. I was in a military boarding house. In fact, the discipline over there was at “all time high”. This was actually the first time ever I was staying alone, away from my parents, my siblings, my friends and most especially my new found love!! I can still remember, how I felt home sick, crying all the time in my hostel. At some point, I felt very sick and I was rushed to the navy medical center. It didn’t still change the reality I was meant to accept. There was nothing like phone during that period compared to now that phone is rampant, to call your family members. I had the highest amount of flogging and punishment in navy schools both from seniors and navy personnel’s.

But like the saying goes: “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”, that was what made me strong. I wasn’t the soft boy my parents knew each time I got home. All those fears of talking to ladies disappeared into tin air. I became more reserved and resentful towards my parents but you know our typical Nigerian parents, “they don’t give a shit about what you think about them”. But I’ll say, there plans worked because I noticed I wasn’t as stubborn as I used to be instead, I became cool headed but the bad part about everything is that my girlfriend and her parents in barracks was transferred to the northern part of Nigeria during one of the periods I was in the hostel. All efforts to try to reach out to me was unsuccessful. She only dropped a letter for me through my kid sister.

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That was the last time I heard from her. I’m guessing by now, she’ll be married with children because is been over 17 years! I’ve tried searching for her on Facebook just to know how she’ll look like now but to know avail. I believed she must have used a different name.

DO YOU FEEL PREPARED FOR ANOTHER FAREWELL?

Like the saying goes, the only constant thing we’ve in this life is change!! You might think you’re done with movement but a slight change in plan’s can make you move out from your supposed comfort zone especially now that I’m still single. If I was a married man with my family, maybe I could have stood my ground and remain at my location.

But another farewell, I think I’m not caught out for is “death”. As much as people say death is inevitable, I don’t think I am ready to accept that fact except till old age. Even at old age, I won’t still go like that, I will still make sure I’ve put my house in order before God take me to heaven!

WHAT LESSON DID LIFE TEACH ME THROUGH THIS FAREWELL?

• Speaking about lessons I’ve learnt during my farewell, it has exposed me to lots of cultures. Before now, I use to see my okrika culture as superior to every other culture but when you get the opportunity to move about and you are open minded, you tend to embrace the new way of life, culture and religion of diverse ethnicities.

• Secondly, during my many farewell, I learnt several languages even though I am not fluent in the language but I can speak ibo and Yoruba. But the shocking thing about this language is that I can’t speak my native dialect. Sometimes, I feel so disappointed when I see my town people and I can’t communicate with them fluently in my language. Well, I blame my parents. They hardly communicate with us in our dialect, It was always in English language and that’s a mistake I won’t make with my kids when I start raising my family. I will try as much as possible to teach them our language even if it means them frequenting the village all the time to learn from their peers and relatives.

• Another lesson I’ve also learnt in my many journeys of life is that when one door closes another door opens. During my farewell, I gained experience from different jobs and it opened doors of favor to me in time to come. As we speak, I’m a crane operator. I learned it while I was in calabar. There was an opportunity for graduates in the barracks to learn some skills. That was how I learnt crane operation and till now, it has been putting food on my table over the years. Surprisingly, my certificate from university is yet to give me a job. If I’d waited for only certification from university, by now I’ll be begging especially with the current high inflation in the country.

• Another lesson I learnt was when I was pushed to boarding school. As much as that experience actually gave me a deep cut in my life, it also built me. Now I can leave in any place of the world without fear and I’ll survive. Navy school was like a survival ground. If you’re not running from the seniors, you’re hiding from navy men or you are in one form of punishment or the other. The military drills was really high. Till now as soon as it’s 5am I’m already up for the day, I clean my house, make sure my bedsheets is shining clean and arranged on my bed and I go to achieve my day’s task. All thanks to navy school.

• I use to be a shy person and find it really difficult to relate to people but my farewell from place to place changed that narrative. I became more bold and find it easy relating with people with ease both boys and girls. Now, I don’t need my kid sister as middleman to strike up a conversation with a girl…😂😂

IN CONCLUSION

When we feel that we have figured out everything by dotting our I’s and crossing our T’s, we should always have at the back of our minds that not everything will go out according to plan. Change is always constant and we should learn to embrace the changes we meet with an open mind because it opens new doors for us despite the challenges that comes with it. So, whenever you feel in your spirit is time to leave your comfort zone to a new location or state, do not fight it. Yes, it might be frustrating at the beginning because the challenge of starting life all over again is always there but also think about the breakthroughs that will come with. JUST HAVE FAITH!!!