This time last year, I was having a good Valentine’s Day. Attended an early Val party, went to the movies to see one of the newly released flicks and planned to hit another Val party afterwards. I was in my own cocoon… no calls, no texts just having a great Valentine’s Day.
I had been upset earlier by news of the brutal death of South Africa’s Reeva Steenkamp who was reportedly murdered by her boyfriend, Oscar Pistorius. That put a dent on my beautifully planned out day but after much talk, I still went out to have a good time.
In my beautiful cocoon, I couldn’t help but search out more updates on Reeva’s death and the dark clouds threatened to come back turning me into a pathetic Val date as I was no longer happy. You would think that was enough for one day but the other shocker came whilst I was out! A rumour filtered in that Nigerian Pop singer, Goldie Harvey had died and somehow many people called me to help them confirm the news.
After much calls, alas it was true. Goldie Harvey, beautiful and loving soul truly died on the very day she returned from the Grammys in the US. How could she die? Wasn’t she the one replying people’s Valentine tweets to her a couple of hours back? She wasn’t ill or anything, how could she die? I couldn’t sleep that night, not even a wink.
.jpg)
My heart was broken for her family, her friends, her career that was set to fly like the phoenix. Poor girl was excited about musical collaborations she was going to have with US artistes, contacts she had made with musical top guns and even producing a new show on a major TV station. But here she was, DEAD!
Reeva Steenkamp was also full of Valentine plans for her and her boyfriend. Little did she know that the same lover would kill her on Valentine’s Day. I am certain there were more sad news last year February 14th but these were the ones that I knew, these were the ones that shook me.
Things like these make you wonder: after all the hustle & bustle what next? These were ambitious women making waves in their chosen fields (Music and Modelling respectively) and at the end of the day; it all went into thin air *poof*.
It is good to achieve (in fact, it is very important) but at the end of the day, you will be remembered not just how much you acquired but by how many lives you were able to touch, what impact you made. I will end with my favourite quote at the moment:
Love everyone that comes your way, do the best you can while you can, Life is fleeting.
Remembering Goldie Harvey, Reeva Steenkamp and everyone who died on a Valentine’s Day… keep resting in heaven.