Final visit to see Lawyer R. I Alhassan
It is almost a week and some days since my last trip to Tamale. The purpose was to visit a person close to my heart, Lawyer Alhassan and his Family. I have known this Family since 1978, when I went up to Tamale with my late Mother. I was then teaching at Tamale Secondary School as a Biology and General Science Teacher. My first contact to the Family was through Mariama Alhassan, whom I affectionately call M3. So from the year 1978, I have developed a very strong Family relationship with Aunty Jane, Lawyer Alhassan and the rest of the Family.
I had already made plans of going to Ghana whiles in the UK several months ago. A brief phone call to Mariama revealed to me that her Dad was quite sick and it was not expected that he would live for long. I made a personal appointment to pay them a visit once I arrived. I went up to Tamale on a Tuesday and returned to Accra on Thursday early morning. The trip was worth it for several reasons. I had not seen Lawyer Alhassan since his appointment as Ghana’s Ambassador to Germany. My Family had the pleasure of spending time with him and Aunty Jane when he was posted in Bonn and Berlin. I was so happy to see him. He looked much better than I expected. Obviously due to the medications he was on, he was only able to spend brief moments on the veranda and entertain visitors. It was also a pleasure to see M3. M3 used to live in the UK, however when she got married, she moved to Australia to be with her husband. As travelling does to most people, you tend to loose touch. There will the the odd email here and there, but the frequency of your communication slowly dwindles to a halt.
I got a text message from M3 on my phone informing me of her Dad’s death. I think it was some where after midnight. I saw the message around 8AM that morning. I immediately called her. I had already purchased a ticket for another visit to Tamale. I had wanted to surprise her and say goodbye to her R.I. M3 and I had gone out the night before my morning flight back to Accra. I returned to Airport Ridge hoping that R. I was not asleep and I could say goodbye. Unfortunately, he was fast asleep and thus I was only able to say goodbye to Aunty Jane.
So, Good Friday found me back up in Tamale. I had actually booked my flight for the 14th, but I learnt that Andrew was due in Accra on Thursday and would be flying up to Tamale on Good Friday. I immediately changed my flight to Good Friday. It was nice to see Andrew again. A week before my trip to Accra, Andrew popped over to my crib in Wellingborough to buy some Kenkey, Waakyi, Fried Fish and Shitto from Gina. [Gina, my wife, cooks all sorts of Ghanaian food from home and sells to the Ghanaian Community in Wellingborough and surrounding towns].
I absolutely hate when there is a death in a Family, especially when you so some sort of relationship with the Family that has lost a loved one. There is nothing one can really say or do, except to hug and comfort each other. Some people say that talking helps, but what do you say. On the Good Friday I managed to say a few words to Aunty Jane and give her a hug. To the others - there were scattered conversations about the past. As the day progressed, visitors started coming and going. Unfortunately, my time was up for me to catch my flight back to Accra. I believe there will be a celebration of R. I on Sunday, the 27th.