A LETTER TO PARENTS (3)

Dear Mom and Dad,
Its my earnestly hope that you are all fine. As I always say, hope is the best thing that all human beings are living by/for. Envisioning a day with no hope is hard. Hope keeps us moving, keeps us focused and above all positive hopes brings about better dreams as opposed to nightmares.

I am fine, fine than when I wrote you two past letters. I was very sorry to hear that my previous letters caused a bit troubled views about my situation out here in North America. I am sorry that the letters sounded that way contrary to the truth that this place is actually not that bad at all. However, I think and believe that this place is different. Now as you both know, opposite attracts, the very incentive why some of us are here and will perhaps prolong our stay for a long period of time.

Last weekend was Labor Day here in North America. If you ask me why North Americans chose to have their Labor Day in September instead of internationally recognized May 1st, my answer could just be simple; wanted to be different! This is one of the things that make up the difference I just mentioned above. Can you imagine kids going to school not in uniform? Can anyone of you imagine kissing our dog Jack? The differences are many, sometimes too many to even make one wonder where they are. Did I ever tell you a story of my two Kenyan friends who went to jail when they thought were doing a customary ceremony of slaughtering a goat during end of the year seasons? Out here you need a permit to slaughter a goat!

Life goes on, anyway, whenever blessed we rise up at dawn to face new days. And it’s only for hope that I always recommend to my friends and relatives, including you now that they live everyday as if it is that special day. Do not keep anything for special occasion; you may not be able to ever see it.

As you would have thought, the world is altering; everything is changing, from weather to music. Gone are the days when weather was never a political issue. That was left to dreamland and whoever lives there. Today’s music and musicians are completely different. Gone are the days when a band of six people used only one microphone to sing. Nowadays all six members of the band have a microphone on their hand. The divergence comes when because all of them are singing, at one time, you can barely hear what they are saying. I can not make a whistle out of today’s music and as uncle Tunga used to say, a music out of which you can not make a whistle is not music at all. By the way, do you still go to watch live band at Tambu Park? I would get the picture if you told me you no longer go, things have changed.

Mom and Dad, I do not want to sound like a member of the clergy here. What I want to do is to be of assistance so that all of us continue growing, growing as a strong family. I know when I write you also share the core message with the rest of the family members. I will always recognize the value of that. We need to continue to search for knowledge. For that reason we need to read more and hence learn more. Let us, whenever possible, sit on our front balcony and be thankful for the view without paying attention to our needs. Do you think that is hard to do?

We also need to spend more time with our families and friends. Such gatherings could enable us to eat our favorite foods. With families and friends we must not forget to visit the places we love. Now you know how much I love Mount Kilimanjaro National Park, The Serengeti, Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater. I cannot wait to come home and see those places again. I would like to take those trips with all of you so please stay strong. Life is a chain of moments of enjoyments, not only about survival. I believe so.

If anyone of you has crystal goblets I encourage you to use them. That is just like how I used and still encourage my friends to not save their best cologne for any special day. I encourage them to use their best cologne every time they feel like they want it. Every day, every hour and every minute is special. After all we all don’t know if it will be our last.

Last but not least, let’s tell our families and friends how much we love them. Just like how I love you Mom and Dad. Let me end up here for today. As promised before, whenever I get time I will write more letters.

Greetings to everybody.

Son

Jeff