I was thinking this morning.... A couple of days ago, I stumbled on this photograph and it stirred up a deep feeling of nostalgia. It was taken almost 25 years ago at my traditional wedding ceremony.
A few years before then, about eight of us friends had organised ourselves into a group and started calling ourselves “Officers.”
Someone who didn't know us might have thought we belonged to some arm of the military or law enforcement. After all, wetin eight young men dey call themselves Officers for? 😂
We were neither appointed nor elected public officers. We were simply Chief Executive Officers in our own small corners. It was a social group built around friendship, brotherhood and supporting one another whenever the need arose. We were young, ambitious and just beginning our working lives.
Those years were memorable. I was the youngest and eventually the last Officer to get married. And then, as they say, life began to life. Marriage came. Children arrived. Responsibilities multiplied. Careers demanded more. Everybody began pursuing that proverbial greener pasture.
Gradually, our frequent gatherings became less frequent. Two Officers got better opportunities in Lagos and left Warri. Years later, my own greener pasture carried me to Rivers State. Sadly, one of us was eventually called to eternity. May the Lord continue to rest his soul.
Almost 25 years have passed since the Officers gathered to support me at my wedding. Yesterday, I called some of them, and we reminisced about those beautiful Warri years. The laughter, the friendship, the struggles and the dreams we shared.
And something struck me.
No quarrel separated us. No disagreement broke the group. Nobody officially resigned from the Officers. Life simply reassigned us.
New cities. New careers. New families. New friendships. New responsibilities. New circles.
As Warri people would say, “River no dey flow straight, but e still dey reach where e dey go.”
Sometimes we feel guilty that we are no longer as close to old friends as we once were. But perhaps not every friendship is meant to remain physically close forever. Some people belong permanently to a chapter of our lives even when life moves us into another chapter.
So, if an old photograph suddenly reminds you of people with whom you once shared beautiful moments, don't just smile and scroll past. Make the call.
Twenty-five years may have passed, but you may discover that beneath all the distance, responsibilities and grey hairs, the friendship is still there, waiting for someone to say:
"A friend loves at all times" says Proverbs 17:17.
Stay hopeful. God's got our back.
Happy Sunday!
......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey