In my daily work as a Medical Practitioner, one of the most significant observations I made quite early in my career is that no one can tell who the clock runs out on the next moment. Time fades away for everyone definitely. For some the clock runs out through a sudden, traumatic or even a dramatic event while for others it could just be gradual, painful and tiring. However, some do not get to have any eventful passage at all, theirs will just be uneventful. That is where, relatives rush them to Emergency Room and say, “we had dinner, gisted and played last night before we all retired to sleep. But he did not wake up this morning.”

In my musings today, I recall a particular case that happened not in the hospital but I was closely involved in the acts. This beautiful and loving lady I will call Faith had a health event that made her dependent on her children. While she was still in the dire center of the health event, a relative of hers that I will refer to as Ebuwa, visited and was weeping pathetically saying, “so young but now so dependent”.
Faith’s older daughter told me her story. Ebuwa had been quite sickly and had never been healthy all her life. At a point, some of her relatives including Faith’s older daughter (as she informed me) thought Ebuwa was a serious case of malingering. Several months later, I was to be informed that Ebuwa’s clock had run out. Her death followed a mild illness, the type my tribe call ‘brief illness’ in obituary announcement. It was a dramatic and sudden event that occurred even before help could reach her. Her clock ran out while that of Faith was still ticking.

So, time gradually erbs away for everyone. It runs out for the seemingly, unexpectedly and supposedly healthy one too. No one can tell whose turn it will be in the next minute or hour.

I will say, I am lucky to have made this observation quite early in my career. And, what did I make of this observation? Like Faith’s daughter did, live your life now. Live your life at all times. She decided that her mother will enjoy her life to the fullest. While, undergoing treatment for her terminal illness, her management was taken very seriously. However, it had a human face to it. She sometimes indulge her in the little pleasant things of life that intermittently put smiles on her Mother’s face. According to her, when her clock finally runs out, she will smile and remember the good life of her Mother.