Jonathan’s Macabre Dance In The Cemetery

Jonathan’s Macabre Dance In The Cemetery
Kunle Somorin

He that lives upon hope will die fasting - Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)

My earliest recollection of the association between governance and morbidity was when Ambrose Alli, a professor of Morbid Anatomy was elected Governor of the old Bendel State in 1979. Flirting with morbidity has now transcended the late professor. Since his exit, the art has become statecraft. Each time a new regime replaces an old order, dead political actors are heroically remembered, frenetically fetched out, penitently dusted out of their graves and soulfully brandished and garbed in the toga of martyrdom and impressively saddled with ‘new’ responsibilities and the business of governance remains inchoate; business as usual.

Every government in power is a syndrome that has become endemic with Nigeria. The sports arena is not left out. Last month, when it became obvious that the Super Eagles was not going to do well in The World Cup Mundial, a long forgotten, jaded 60-something year-old Swede by the name Lars Lagerback (it sound more Lager beer than lagging behind)was thrown to international prominence as the Technical Adviser. Does it mean there are no vibrant young and creative minds that could do the job better? Don’t ask me. It has become a way of life in Nigeria.

That’s why I sympathise with our dear amiable Acting President about the people he romances openly and secretly. In spite of the tremendous outpouring of emotion and scintillating goodwill of Nigerians and the international community, he has elected to take the road usual, in a patently unusual world and circumstances, by romancing the politically dead; people whose days of delivering the goods are gone. I understand the theoretical ambiguities in matching science with the art of politics. Acting President Goodluck Jonathan is a botanist and zoo scientist, trained in my alma mater, but obviously, we are not in the plant and animal kingdom.

Youth-pessimism seems to have beclouded his sense of propriety as soon as he transformed to the Acting presidency. I cannot understand this obsession with morbidity that made him travel the same route to perdition - the road that has failed all his predecessors, including the last one. How on earth would a young man like Goodluck, with all his supposed education and years in the ivory tower not know that the wisdom of yesterday is today’s stupidity. (Just tell me what new things will the Obasanjo, Danjumas, Nwabuezes, Uwais’, Anyaokus, etc bring to the table to help Nigerian that they forgot all these years. Remember they used to recriminate themselves about what they forgot in office). Knowledge is fluid, so the generational gap will rather take us back to the days of yore.

It was reported and nobody has denied that he keeps licking the arse of a former President right from Day One, at the mid-night on the day history beckoned on him to lead us away from political logjam. That’s unconscionable. One wonders what the character has to add that he couldn’t in all the years he was privileged to lead Nigeria.

At a time many of these new-found clique of advisers were on the saddle, so were Generals Chung-hee Park of South Korea, Gamal Abdel Naseer of Egypt, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk of Turkey and Mr. Lee Kwan Yew in Singapore. So were the leaders of the Asian Tiger’s economic revolution. They have since moved on and bequeathed prosperous countries to the successor generation. And the good work continues. From being the world’s second poorest nation in 1953, at a time colonialists were afraid to leave Nigeria, because of the fear that the world’s most populous black nation had potential of ruling the global economy, South Korea’s fortune has turned. So has Nigeria’s. You can hardly water a burgeoning humanity from the carcasses of the dead. With ‘new knowledge’ powering the global economic order, hardly can a cabinet, peopled by analogue men and women drive a competitive process. It’s just impossible.

I will not be terribly shocked if in reshuffling his cabinet, “a new improved” E.K. Clarke returns as his Minister of Information and Propaganda or Richard Osuolale Akinjide as his Attorney General. Was it not rumoured that he wanted a great grandfather as his Vice President to replace the ailing President? It would not be preposterous for Dr. Alex Ekweme, Olaniwun Ajayi or even Alhaji Shehu Shagari to become Ambassadors under this brand new Acting President; after all, there had never been one like him.

If in all their over 50 years at the corridor or in power they could not generate more than 3,000 megawatts of electricity, whereas a single Steel plant in Korea consumes about double that figure, I don’t understand the “Miracle of Damman” that will happen in less than 8 month rule of Goodluck. While we cannot wish away their contributions, we thank them for what they have been able to undo. The truism of our esoteric existence now requires that they take the back seats and throw up new Turks. Goodluck owes us a duty to identify new leaders with a 21st century mind-set. If the fading generation has anything to contribute, I admonish them, if they have not done so, let them begin to compile their memoirs and with the knowledge of hindsight, let the unborn generations know what they did right and acknowledge their transgressions. With age comes sobriety. They need not regret. Let them remorsefully re-chart a roadmap to our collective redemption. Only through that, can they honestly roadmap to a better Nigeria. That is what I call patriotism.

Is Goodluck giving the impression that, that generation remains the best and irreplaceable? That definitely is not the wish of these men and women. I would have wished that they reject the appointments outright and allow today’s people instead. Vibrant, intellectually-laced, progressive-minded Nigerians, at home and in the Diaspora, are legion. No matter the set-back of the previous administration, the people that made the critical difference are the ICT-compliant few young men and women. While their older cabinet counterparts were approaching governance the usual way of the ‘cemetarians’, they took solace in the unusualness of times and impacted the political landscape.

The Ngozi Oknonjo Iwealas, the Oby Ezekwesilis, the Dora Akunyilis, the Nuhu Ribadus, and the Nasir El-Rufais remain indelible in the consciousness of contemporary political discourse because they showed us the other side of governance. Don’t get it wrong, they are not in the pantheon of saints, neither did they live like some people from the angelic azure, they are Nigerians, who came, contributed and left the stage better than other actors in the same government.

For being soft-spoken and gentlemanly, Jonathan scenario builders would have inundated him with the desiderata for calling on board tough guys to checkmate the marauding power base of the nation. They would have assailed him with the logic and need for self-preservation to justify their submission. The security infractions woven around his commander-in-chief’s status when President Yar’Adua sneaked in and was welcomed by deployment of troops is a steady alibi to toughen Goodluck. So could the recurrent Jos carnage. Our dear Acting President could stretch his imagination further to bring Chief Chukwemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, as his special envoy on the Jos crisis, because he had led a war never to be forgotten than any other in the country’s history.

Sermonisation has never changed anything. You can hardly water the living with a fountain from the graveyard of politics? By engaging the diggers of the trenches where the strategies for perfecting political self-preservation is always adroitly plotted, patented and sold to the undertakers, Goodluck is further pulverising the living by his morbid anatomy.

Without doubt, Jonathan’s display of naivety and timidity is being exploited by people whose subjective preferences would be elevated to statecraft. I expected much more from someone from the furnace of the Niger Delta and the marginalised constituency, his approach could have been better informed by the need for equalisation of opportunities and even development.

Whether he likes it or not, fortuitous circumstances have thrust on Goodluck a responsibility not fit for the lily livered; definitely not because the incumbent lacks functional kidneys did we replace him. Jonathan must embrace history and write his name in gold. That’s why Goodluck doesn’t have to rely solely on good luck. The requirements of a presidential office are as meekly as they are apparition. He doesn’t have to go to the graveyard of political history to exhume the carcasses for this all-important assignment.

A power-that-be mind-set cannot carry the burden of statesmanship. A statesman is a brinksman. This Jonathan is just not exhibiting enough of the traits. Pandering to primordial sentiments and not being his own man will rather mar than make his historic government.

What made these new bodies expedient as we found our nation at the crossroads again? Is it because the presidency’s team of advisers is incompetent or unpatriotic? Has Goodluck lost confidence in the National Assembly that promoted him through the ‘principle of necessity’? The constitutional bodies: the Federal Executive Council, the National Council of States and the numberless security apparatchiks cannot be trusted or what? Simply put, the Acting President is displaying palpable fear; developing cold feet at the sight of nothing.

At the heart of Nigeria’s streak of crises are the critical mass of able and competent leaders with the requisite discipline and commitment to genuine national pluralism, popular participation, responsiveness, official accountability and transparency. He needs to change the warped leadership recruitment processes and structure and the emplace thinkers and doers. That’s the minimum legacy Goodluck can give to Nigeria come 2011, not the entrenchment of status quo.

That is not the future of Nigeria. Is Jonathan telling us that the future belongs to the gerontocrats? Will equilisation of opportunity come with the crass opportunism of those who have cornered what the successor generation should tap for the fulfillment of their destiny as a potential world power? Can a redeeming feature be found in the hands and hearts of ethnic zealots, bigots and warlords, people who have in one deal made N17.5b when more than 100 million live on $1 per day.

Appreciate Women (LOL)!

A man wanted his wife to see/appreciate what he goes through daily so he prayed:

Dear Lord:

I go to work everyday and put 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home.

I want her to know what I go through
So, please allow her body to switch with mine for a day.
Amen!


God in His infinite wisdom, granted the man’s wish.

The next morning, sure enough, the man woke up as a woman.
He arose , cooked breakfast for his mate,
Awakened the kids, Set out their school clothes, Fed them breakfast, Packed their lunches, Drove them to school.

Came home and picked up the dry cleaning, Took it to the cleaners
And stopped at the bank to make a deposit,
Went to grocery shopping, Then drove home to put away the groceries,
Paid the bills and balanced the cheque book.

He cleaned the cat’s litter box and bathed the dog
Then, it was already 1pm.

And he hurried to make the beds, do the laundry vacuum, dust and sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

Ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them on the way home...
Set out milk and cookies and got the kids organized to do their homework.
Then, set up the ironing board and watched TV while he did the ironing.

At 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and washing the vegetables for salad, breaded the pork chops and snapped fresh beans for supper.

After supper, he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded laundry, bathed the kids, and put them to bed

At 9pm, he was exhausted and , though his daily chores weren’t finished, e went to bed where he was expected to make love, which he managed to get through without complaint.

The next morning, he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said:

“Lord , I don’t know what I was thinking.
I was wrong to envy my wife’s being able to stay at home all day.
Please, oh! Oh! Please, let us trade back.

Amen!”

The Lord in his infinite wisdom , replied:

“My son, I feel you have learnt your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were. You will just have to wait nine months, though...

You got pregnant last night,”

In the Spirit of Gratitude II (September 21, 2006)

3 years don waka,
We still dey carry go
Baba God o, our case o, na ur grace o
Adupe o.

Admist Jubilation, breaking of pens and saying goodbyes to undergraduate life;
No one was sure of what the future holds but everyone was confident of a bright day ahead.

With chants of D’banj “Mo bo lo won” Ladies in black tops over Ankara Skirt+ headgear, gbedu blasting, lots of picture flashes!

The 1st graduating set of management Science department of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso drew the curtains and bade the most controversial department on campus farewell!

5 solid years of stress, fears, anxiety and remarkable innovations could not easily be put behind, asides the unclear curriculum; inherent is the accommodation of lecturers who were so careful with commitment to teaching us.

MGS as fondly called by many brought about immense change to LAUTECH in terms of growth and development, apart from the fact that the school grew in size and population, is the divergent social characteristics which will normally not grace a university of technology.

A crop of well-rounded creative minds entrant into the school could not be overemphasized as all the forces within the school reckoned with us. From a protest on “Mass Destiny Destruction” which came on board and got the sympathy of the then Ayomide Babalola “Mr. Flow”, which arose as a result of the intention to scrap the B.Sc. Accounting programme and the disparity in the tuition fees of B.Tech. and B.Sc. Accounting degrees (N2,750 and N20,000 respectively). I am a victim of such discrimination despite meeting the criterion of falling under the former category.

MGS stood as a powerful force, and willed her power against the then Vice Chancellor Prof. A.M Salau coupled with his warm character and fatherly role shifted the school exams by 2 weeks until our issues were resolved.

On the high note, the department against all odds gave herself an identity legally upon ratification by the Students Representative Council ‘SRC” which allows for full fledged participation in the school political environment. And the impact of this led to the emergence of worthy sons and daughters in politics, notably our own Jide Abimbola Jnr. and Ambassador Wunmi Adisa who became the President of the Student Union Government.

Asides political involvement, MGS Department became a household name in the development sphere as a special group of young people formed a leadership development organisation called “The Intellectual Group” which made waves with capacity building programmes within and outside the country, streamlining youth voices into decision making process in National and International dialogues and frameworks. Also is The Corporate Accountants (TCA) with focus on Educational development of MGS Students. Kudos to our dear Precious Ogungbile for all the tutorials!

On the social scene, MGS were at the forefront, with numerous engagements in clubbing, organizing shows and award nights. These special breeds were intellectually sound and academically brilliant and compete favorably with any student of other departments within andoutside the school community. Talk about school sports the likes of Veron, Khaleel, Afolabi Kasomo, Ope Olofinjana, Folake Oladokun will come to the fore in representing the school well in Local and national games.

On Appreciation, God used several people for us as a network of emerging leaders, one cannot but thank Dr Remi Aworemi (Atuu- Iyanu a sele!) Shoed and be shoed, Dr Owolabi Usman(Sumonu) – sosialisation, Dr Adewoye (H.O.D), Dr Idowu, Dr Ojokuku, Coach, Mr. Shomuyiwa(Mazda 626), Miss Akande and lest I forgot Dr Onaolapo (Sneaky!!!).

About the grey areas and our low moments, we cannot but pay tributes to MGS fallen heroes, we sincerely do love them but God loves them most; saheed, Seun Fadare, Chioma, Modupeola Afolabi, Wunmi Afonja etc. We appreciate God for their short but exemplary lives and continue to pray for the repose of their souls and for their family they left behind that God should grant them the fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss.

For those over the last 3 years (2095 days) have changed their names, become fathers and mothers, we thank God on your behalf; Toyin Mohammed nee Ekemode, Foluso Olufadeju, Shakirah Ali-Balogun nee Salau, Kenny Mokolo nee Adeoye, Seun Sheba-Abiona,Ope Olofinjana-Ogungbade,Vivian Ojeahere nee Ero, kanmi Ogundele (Ursh), Toyin Toba- Bassey, Bimbo Buraimo- Awolade, Monisola Saka-Adejo, Fisayo oyebanji-Adigun,Ebun Aluko-Banjo and others to numerous to mention.

I think its best for us to look back with gratitude and say “Thank You” to the Almighty who against all odds has brought us into His palace and banquet in Love, after cleaning us up, He made us into what we are today.

I sincerely hope that someday we will have cause to celebrate together, organize a reunion and thank god in unison, but until that happens; this medium should be left open!

One Love!!!

In the Spirit of Gratitude I

The surest way to get discouraged is to compare yourself with others. Don’t compare yourself (Gal 6:4)because some people will look like they are doing a better job and you will get disheartened, while others won’t be as effective and you will become proud. Concentrate on doing your best (2 Timothy 2:15). That way you will get satisfaction of a job well done and you won’t need to compare yourself. All the apples on a tree don’t ripen at the same time. Paul says ‘knowledge and understanding’ take time (Phil 1:9-10). It can take years and many successes in any new area before we can confidently say to ourselves and others. I am…. What God has called me to do.
Don’t wait until you are successful….start now by saying you are what you want to become…Yes you’ve much to learn…and you may not be an expert…. But you don’t have to be, to say those two little words I am.
Remember God uses crooked sticks to draw straight lines and imperfect people to do His perfect will. So, push ahead, cut yourself some slack, and remember you are a W.I.P a work-in-progress!

TO OUR PARENTS

This is coming straight to the parents- the older generation, to remind them of their responsibilities as a lamp to show us light in the right direction.This is a few lines to learn from exerpt:

As a parent you should know that your teens need your guidance to help them make the right choices in life and steer them in the right direction. It is up to you to get the rules, enforce the rules and communicate with teens regularly about choices that impact their lives. Every day, teens are faced with multiple decisions, from who to hang out with to whether or not to engage in various activities.

With marijuana (weed or ganja) being the most commonly used drugs among teens, it is important for parents to have an open dialogue and firm rules about marijuana usage and many of the issues that teens encounter. Don’t assume that your teens know or don’t need to be reminded about the risks and negative consequences associated with their actions, particularly when they are bombarded with powerful influences like peer pressure and mixed messages from movies, music (especially when these musicians use weed to feel high before they can perform excellently) and video games.

Today is a good day to remind your teens where you stand. The lines of communication are key, so talk to them. Make your expectations clear – drugs are NOT acceptable. Getting your teens to agree can help then earn your trust, which is something all teens want.

And always remember to keep close tabs on them. They have many influences in their lives and they need you to help them navigate through life and make the right decisions. Know where your teens are and who they’re with. Cell phones have made it easier than ever to just “check in”. This is not saying that you don’t respect their space or don’t trust them. It’s only sending a clear message that you care.

Above all else, you are the number one influence in your teen’s lives so lead by example because your teens are learning from you. Show the teens you love that actions speaks louder than words. Set the rules, Enforce the rules and Talk to your teens about risky behaviours and consequences. Ensure that your teens have a future that is filled with hope and success

And to the smoking –parent folk, there is something called secondhand smoke and it has its own potential danger because inhaling any amount of someone else’s smoke can promote a list of serious health hazards.

These include heart disease, emphysema, lung cancer and other illnesses. Children who include teens are most vulnerable to second hand smoke which contribute to a large extent to bronchitis severe asthma attacks, ear infections, improper lung growth and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Even brief stints around second hand smoke are enough to begin the damaging process that over time can lead to various type of cancer.

To draw the curtain I want to believe that a word is enough for the wise, if you are more than a teenager and has siblings who are still teens, kindly print this out for them, likewise your neighbours with teens in their fold, you could help save a life, a generation and make a deteriorating society sane once more.

Peace!!!!

Plateau the Beautiful

Hi folks,
This is a time to share my experience during my NYSC days in the cold region of Nigeria; Plateau State, a lovely state with wonderful features, rocky and serene landscapes, why not join me take a tour into this land that host the famous Institute of Policy Strategic Studies(NIPSS), where the big wigs always visit to get more beefed up for various leadership roles:

Jos Plateau is on a tropical highland, near the center of Nigeria. The plateau covers an area of about 26,889 sq km and lies at a general altitude of about 1,300 m (about 4,300 ft). It is surrounded by high plains with elevations of between 600 and 900 m (2,000 and 3,000 ft) and consists mainly of deeply eroded remnant volcanic rock, mostly granites.

It shares borders with Benue, Nasarrawa, Kaduna, Taraba Bauchi and Gombe State.
Temperatures in the plateau tend to be 4 Celsius degrees (8 Fahrenheit degrees) cooler than those on the coast, and the average annual rainfall of about 1,300 mm (about 50 in) is considerably higher than that in the surrounding lowland.

The weather is always cold between the months of December and February as a result of the charlatan winds even though the temperature appear highest between march and April, plateau weather remain the coldest though situated in the tropical zone, its temperature climate is nearly equivalent to Europe and the United States of America and this weather condition accounts for the concentration of expatriates in the State compared to other state of the federation.

Headwaters of rivers feeding the Niger River, the Benue River, and Lake Chad radiate from here. The original savanna woodland and forest have been cleared and largely replaced by open grassland and farms. The plateau is known for its waterfalls, several of which have been harnessed to provide power for the region's mining industries.

Alluvial tin and niobium deposits have supported a modern mining and smelting industry in the Jos Plateau since the early 1900s. Mining activities has also brought an influx of whites and Nigerians to the plateau, profoundly changing local societies. During the same period the hill farmers have expanded into the lower elevations. It has a number of minerals resources which can be a catalyst for commercial development such as Cassiterite, Barytes Clay, Columbite, Tin, Gemstones, Galena, Quartz, Felspar and Tantalite.

The state has been rightly described as a miniature Nigeria because it consists of almost all the various tribes or ethnic group of Nigeria. It has over 30 ethnic groups each with a proud cultural heritage with no single group large enough to claim the majority position. Plateau people are accommodating that makes it possible for people of other tribe to live peacefully among the indigenes, some of these indigenes are; Birom, Ngas, Taroc, Goemai, Youm, Rukuba, Kwagalak, Piapung, Buji, Gashish, Chip ,Meryang, Ron-Kulere, Aten, Mwaghavul, Boggohm,Fier, Pyem, Jarawa, Naraguta, Irigwe, Montol, Jarawa, Mushere, Amo and so on. Each ethnic group has its own distinct language but as in every state of the federation English is the official language but Hausa has so much gain acceptability as a medium of communication and might soon overthrow the use of English in Plateau state.

A common feature among the ethnic groups in Plateau state is the strong attachment to dance culture and the performance of festivals, initiation rites and naming ceremonies, religious rituals and ancestral worship. Some of such festivals span through the year and are performed in Pankshin (Pusdung),Mangu(Pus Kaat),Shendam(Bit Goemui), Qua’an Pan(Panyam fishing festival) Local Government Areas of the State .

Cultural festivals include Afizere Culture Festival, Irigwae New year Celebration, Taroc Cultural day, Resettlement day, Goemai day Pu’us kang, Mushere Zarachi Festival, Nzem Berom, Puska at Pusdung, Thaar Cultural Community Festival, Ron Kulere Festival, Bogghom Cultural Festival to mention a few.

Apart from the cultural heritage modern day social life in Plateau state cannot be underemphasized, night life is so wonderful from the club Zero-eleven, to D’Makuba club, Bar Cardi, Zoo view, West of Mines, Stepps and various social centres and joints.

Commercial activities in Jos are always buzzing with the Old Terminus Market, Abuja Market, Kwarafa, Bukuru, Yandoya, Potatoes Market, Fari gada, Katako Market and so on; the cool upland is the only region in Nigeria that permits the cultivation of potatoes. This area is also a center of a dairy industry producing butter and cheese, and other agricultural produce of the state which includes yams, maize, guinea corn, carrot, Tomatoes, Groundnut, cowpea, Pepper, Acha (lunagy rice), Beniseed, Garden eggs, Okro, Cabbage, Beans, and a host of others including Cows, Chicken, Rabbits, and Dogs as livestock. With the emergence of recapitalization virtually all surviving banks has at least one branch in Plateau State.

Plateau state has 17 local Government areas which made up the whole state as a peaceful and a tourist abode, these LGA include: Barkin-Ladi with headquarter in Barkin-ladi, Bassa in Bassa, Bokkos in Bokkos, Jos North in Jos, Jos South in Bukuru, Jos East in Angware, Kanam in Dengi, Kanke in Kwal, Langtan North in Langtan, Langtan South in Mabudi, Mangu in Mangu, Mikang in Tunkus, Pankshin in Pankshin, Quan’pan in Doemak, Riyom in Riyom, Shendam in Shendam, and Wase in Wase.

Tourist attraction in the plateau include Assop falls and Riyom Rocks in Riyom LGA, Kura falls in Barkin-ladi, Wase Rock in Langtan, Kerang Volcano in Mangu, Kahwang Basalt Rocks in Bokkos, Pandam Game Reserve in Quan’pan, Miango river Gorge, Jos Wild-life Park, Rayfield Resort Lake and Shere hills in Jos South, Naraguta Leather works, Jos Museum, Jos Main market and the Lamingo Dam in Jos North LGA.

what more can a man ask for

Hi folks,
Im sorry for the long absence on this forum but its good that im back refreshed and this is so hot and sizzling for the other sexfold.This is simply amazing and a love letter to all your loved ones most especially those you have shared wonderful moments with and you believe those memories are worth preserving. Take a hint from here and appreciate her for her patience, perseverance and unflinching love she has for you from time immemorial:


Honey,
When I think about the man I was before God brought us together, and the man I am today, I am in awe of the distance traveled! When I talk to other husbands and husbands-to-be in the course of my travels, I understand the fear and uncertainty as the conversation invariably turns toward relationships because there is a certain amount of faith involved in the journey.

I want to thank you for having faith in me that I would wake up and begin focusing on you instead of waiting for you to focus on me. I have always seen myself as a “good man” in the back of my mind, but somehow I could never quite get my actions o match up with my words. I just wanted to be trusted and to be trustworthy.

The first things that you helped me to see is the divine order to things; God first, wife second, children third, work fourth and I am fifth. More specifically you taught me it is not about me anymore.

You were patient with me as I learned the value and power of becoming a “servant-leader”. I began to see that God gave only one directive to husbands regarding their wives- “love them”. You helped me to see that if I wanted to be the head of the house then I should lead by being the first to “apologize” and “ask for forgiveness”.

By being who you are you gave me insight to what being the “a mature man” is all about. The mature man can let his wife get the glory”. A mature man is secure in his wife’s love for him even when she is basking in the spotlight while he stands behind the scenes.

And it takes time for a woman to “pray her man into maturity” because the mature man begins to gradually acquire the understanding that oftentimes one has to “give and give and give and give….. in order to get”. The mature man understands that respect is “earned” and not “given”. And he is not undaunted by this “refining process” during those first five years of marriage. The mature man remembers that he got own on one knee and “asked” his then girlfriend to be his wife…….
It is a very difficult process for a man and a woman to get this “understanding” about their roles and begin to look for ways to “do” for the other person. When does that moment happen? When the husband and the wife cease competing with each other, and begin looking for ways to put and keep smiles on each others faces.

Honey, you have taught me to slow down and “change my attitude” you have indeed “helped me meet God”, and for that I will forever be indebted to you.

And finally, I want to thank you for preparing me for fatherhood. I got to know that it is not about the children. “When you get married and have children”, they said “never forget that the children would not be there of not for you and me” they let me know that we must stay focused on our marriage! The primary relationship in life is not parent/child, but husband/wife. Now that the children are here, that the lesson becomes all the more powerful.

There is no such thing as a “perfect marriage”. Men are men and women are women all over the world. Just because we have been blessed to be able to make a living “playing” does not exempt us from having to do the same work every other husband and wife have to do. I just want to thank you for making the decision to work with me.

What more can a man ask?