Deeply Engrained: Gift from my Father.

17 Years. Seems like Yesterday...

A friend asked me if it was "expected." I've never really understood what he meant. True we all go that way, eventually. Perhaps I should have expected it. But death is so devastating and final, nothing ever prepares us for it. No wonder on the morning of August 10 1998, Dr. David Takura Chonzi's call delivered news that tore through my heart like a knife through butter. My father's valiant fight for his life and dignity, following a devastating ailment, had ended in a tragic and heartbreaking manner at Parirenyatwa Hospital.

A part of my life went with him.

The news came crushing like the clichéd tonne of bricks. My life came to an abrupt stop. In that split moment, I must have played several permutations of the future. How would I break the news to my mom? She had held to the hope that dad would soon be out of hospital and continuing our journey further down the road of life. And to the rest of the family and friends? They too had hoped he would continue his great and selfless job of holding the family together.

Like many children, it is not until our parents are older that we really obtain a sense of them. For some that moment comes late in life, when we can listen to our parents telling their life stories to their grandchildren - putting our memories to work. For others it comes much earlier, that early travelogue between birth, holding on and letting go - that time when we build a bond between child and parent. Mine was interrupted by years in boarding school and studying abroad. We were just getting back into it! So that morning was devastating. I would never have a chance.

Neither would his grandchildren...

I wish my father had lived long enough for me to give him a part of me that he never got to see and experience: his grandchildren, the strong and loving family and friends he left behind.

Panashe was barely one. Like her cousins, she was a joy to her granddad. 'VaChihera,' he used to call her, preferring her totem. In her beautiful eyes he must have seen his own future, his legacy. But he would never live to celebrate the beautiful bond between children and their grandparents, or appreciate the beautiful, smart and ambitious young woman Panashe has become.

My father was a well known and respected person.

I could find no one with a bad word to say about him. His abiding family love was extraordinary. He gave everything to embrace the family, extended and immediate. He opened his house and heart to all, bringing under his care brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts alike. All were soon to be memories. I could sense the agony in David Chonzi's voice. He knew it was going to be a tough take for me.

It has been seventeen painful years....

Those familiar with the emotional toll exacted by the death of a loved one will know that nothing ever prepares us for the eventuality of death... heart-wrenching and crippling.

Although he was taken rather suddenly from us, he left a deeply engrained gift death will never ravage: the memory of his character and the love and care of family and friends.

Rest in Peace Mr. Gomera.

Comments

Rutendo

10.08.2022 16:04

Continue to rest in peace sekuru

Judy

10.08.2022 07:11

Till we meet again keep resting in peace sekuru

Stephen

14.08.2020 08:12

This is a wonderful tribute to your father. Through these words and your own life you have honoured his memory.

Walter M

13.08.2015 23:43

A man of the people, wise and loved by all...his stories live on in our hearts,we shall never forget n we will always share with generations to come. His legacy will live on. Forever with us in spiri

Panashe

10.08.2015 09:15

From all the stories that I have heard and the manner that people talk about him. I can only conclude that sekuru Gomera was a remarkable man. His legacy lives on to this day and for that I'm thankful

Max

10.08.2015 10:36

He was an extraordinary man. If I could be half the man he was, I will have been a successful dad, brother, husband, friend, colleague and human being...

tashiyana

10.08.2015 09:52

he was a great man...forever missed

Vimbai

10.08.2015 09:12

Unfortunately I never got the chance to meet him, but from what I've heard he was a wonderful man. Forever in our hearts. Rest in Peace Grandpa

Loice Gomers

10.08.2015 09:05

You brought all of us joy except for today. We miss you. Baba Elisha. What a man. What a life. You live on forever in the hearts of those blessed enough to have known you. Rest in Peace Baba.

tashiyana

10.08.2015 07:58

I am one person who never got to spend time, talk or laugh with this man as I was still so young, if only I cld turn back the hands of time because never knew the love of a granddad in my entire life.

Shepherd

10.08.2015 02:47

For us that still have fathers alive need to cherish every single moment that we are with them . Very inspiring. Thanks Kule.

Latest comments

10.08 | 16:04

Continue to rest in peace sekuru

10.08 | 07:11

Till we meet again keep resting in peace sekuru

05.07 | 09:26

Isitshwala, the food of champions! You took me down memory lane with this piece, my friend. And with a smile too!!

21.06 | 10:01

RIP will always be missed

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