Starting the flamboyant phase of University was such a thrill, I was open to living it all and working the book end, hard, as well. As fate would have it, to begin this phase with me, doing the same study course was a pleasant young man, named Ronald Agaba, I called him Ronnie. The man always awed me, with his composed nature, I never met someone so patient with everything in life, including himself. He also had a warmth about him that he spread everywhere he went. Truly, if you were looking for a good friend, a good student, a good tutor, a good planner, a good husband, a good boyfriend, Ronnie would have been your best pick but I must have been blind those days!
I remember him starting a little business in a big way, right in my hostel room. He would bring tasty bread sandwiches, filled with sauteed meat mince and maybe 3 or 4 other vegetables, already made from his home, to my room. We would then pack, sell and distribute from my hostel address. I was usually his booking personnel, booking in the orders from eagerly waiting customers. I say, big way though, because even if he was selling not more than 20 sandwiches a day, they were always neatly sealed, made from the finest brown bread and always made fresh, he was a man of excellence at whatever he involved himself in. Such an impeccable being!
Our thoughts and hearts always hold a special place for good friends. Such was Ronald Agaba❤️.
As we were officially into our final school year, dreaming of our graduation outfits and reciting our graduation speeches in mind, this young man, always a topper in our class, started to have his mental health challenged, the worst bit being that he was silent about it, for the most part. The silence cost him his life, my friend died before he could finish sitting his final year exams. It all happened so quickly, it's still hard to accept, 9 years later. This was the second most painful loss I have registered in my book.
His future seemed brighter than most of us and yet his life clock had other plans! I now can only be immensely grateful for the sandwiches, the smiles, the talk and his being, even if so shortened that it feels like I lost him on the wayside. His nature was so impactful that his memory brings light for a lifetime. My biggest lesson from the gift of Ronnie to this world is, falling in love with being the best version of yourself even at the humble stages of your life. Those were not just sandwiches he made, what he was making was, two slices of finesse, made from the heart so that another's tummy could be content and body would beam from better health. That's the spirit of excellence that Ronnie oozed and influenced, if you were blessed to be around him. Continue resting in Glory, Ronald Agaba! Till we meet again.
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