Mandela lives!

It was with a heavy heart that I remembered Madiba (Mandela to even more) some days ago. The epitome of every sane African’s desire for a leader, he was a leader to more people than he probably cared to count. For some reason, this man that I had not even met had me close to tears as the fact that he was indeed, dead, gone, hit me early in the early hours of the morning two days ago.

I had seen Blackberry d.ps change to honour Mandela over the course of the night and somehow the import of the death of this great man never fully sank in until when I stopped to think of it as I stepped out of bed that morning…

And I wondered how his children felt that morning, knowing their father had touched lives thousands of miles away from where he had lived; moved some close to tears (and many more to actual tears) who had never even met him physically.

My heart tore at the thought of a man who had paid the ultimate sacrifice not just to do what he believed in but also to do that which he knew to be right. No selfishness from this one. Nope.

I thought he had been duly rewarded. In my eyes, he had paid the ultimate price and then had had life hand him candies. Twenty Seven years in the cooler is no joke but if u were able to come out better than u went in and go on to do even better for yourself, then something good had come out of a bad situation hadn’t it?

He had died at 95 years, been in prison for 27, been out of prison for 68. If you ask me he had lived more years outside prison (and I would believe, free in every ramification) than some had lived their entire lives. Add to this, the fact that he got to be a Lawyer during his time in Prison and I say, talk about time well spent. Prison didn’t hold this guy down or slow him down at all!

Also, he got to be President! Wow! President of the very nation he had fought for. What else could be more of a thank you, or even as fulfilling? Some say it was a pacifier, I say, thank God for the pacifier! He could have been acknowledged, won but had his victory

Sure he lost Winnie but he got another love for a wife! Tell me about it. He had seen both sides but had ended up on the right side. His story could have ended in any number of wrong ways but it did not - some have been killed or died for less ‘sins” than he committed and under less dangerous circumstances. Mandela lived to tell his story. He lived well after his release.

Somehow to me he had his ups and downs like everybody else (maybe deeper downs and higher ups) but he managed to come out right. He managed to be a beacon of hope to more people than he ever met and even more people than he would ever know.  He inspired life and hope, belief in good and in the greater good.

Then, discussing with my boss and his friend I heard an angle I had never considered and frankly don’t even know if I should be- the angle of how he had it difficult on the home front; his divorce from Winnie, his child lost to AIDS, and the fact that twenty seven years of his life in prison was not just twenty seven years but twenty seven years of his youth, the most fruitful, vibrant,  virile and therefore most significant part of his life.

To be continued...