The Conversation I Was Dreading To Have With Kechi...

We were then told that Kechi would need to travel with one of us. I quickly said it would have to be me and I was told to get our passports ready and pack a bag.

I called my friend, Uzoma, who had earlier called to say she was about to leave Aba to see us. Luckily, I caught her on her way out and told her to swing by my house and get our passports and pack a small bag for me.

Then we were faced with the issue of funds. It was Sunday morning, all banks were closed. Mike and I had been in Port Harcourt since the previous day and no one had thought about money or any such thing!

By God's grace, one of our friends, Meche, called from Abuja and when he heard about the money problem, he told Mike to call their friend, Kenneth Yellowe, a man who would later play a very critical role in Kechi's recovery process. Kenneth lived in America but was in Port Harcourt for business. Mike called Kenneth, who was horrified that Mike's daughter was one of the victims of the crash. He said he had GBP410.00 on him and Mike was welcome to it.

Mike rushed off to get the money and then Kate, my sister-in- law, also gave me $100.00 and Mike promised to send me more money as soon as he could.

I then went in to see Kechi, and the nurses were cleaning her wounds. She was actually sitting up in bed, and obeying their instructions to lift her hands, bend her leg etc. It was at that point that she asked me, “Mommy, was I the only one that survived?” “Survived what?” I answered carefully, my mind busily sorting out how to answer without distressing her further. “The plane crash” “No”, I said. Then she asked the question I was dreading. “What of my friends, Toke and the rest?”

Toke was one of her best friends and much later when she could recall the plane trip, she remembered that they had been sitting on the same row, across the aisle from each other.

“Toke is fine”, I said. “Everyone is fine”. In my mind I was justifying to myself, 'They are fine in the bosom of the Lord'. But I knew there was no way I could tell Kechi this. Not yet.

My daughter heaved a huge sigh of relief and said, “O, thank You, Jesus. Jesus I love You”.

She drifted off to sleep again...

To be continued...