Pixabay
.....that Umbopa's wife had given him three sons named Rao, Reo and Rui. The sons came at the interval of three years. Rao was nine, Reo was six years old and Rui was three.
.....It goes that at the outside, the family portrayed a very happy united family. Yet in the inside, the family was bitter. It was surrounded with frequent quarrels between husband and wife. The relationship resembled that of the moon and the sun. When one was in, the other one was out. Nights were the only time the couple shared a bed.
...the wife did concieve again. This was the fourth born of the family. It was as if the pregnance was unwarrantied and nobody bothered to do a scan to determine the sex of the unborn child.
....At night on February 26th, 2018, the wife was admitted in Milimani Maternity for the deliverance of the fourthborn. The exoectancy was for a baby girl.
"It must be a baby girl," echoed the husband in his mind as he drove to the hospital.
.….at the reception, Umbopa was received by a beaming receptionist.
"Your wife, Janet has delivered safely a beautiful bouncing baby boy," she shouted joyfully.
....Umbopa's footsteps faltered. His countenance dropped. The words that escaped from his lips were not intended. Yet they were out before he composed himself to hold them in.
"Not again my God. Not another boy."
.... He wanted to retreat but the receptionist followed him and grabbed his hand.
"Did I offend you sir?"
....That is when Umbopa poured out his story in a torrent of words. He needed a girl and not another boy.
....Suddenly, the receptionist was crying uncontrollably. She cried @teardrops filled with much bitterness. Her sobs echoed in the hall and all those in the reception were amazed.
"You are a fool," she shouted at Umbopa with the bitterness hidden in her chest.
.....between sobs, she explained her futile attempts to concieve. She wanted even to give forth a stillbirth but it was impossible. Doctors had worked on both her husband and herself. They had found nothing wrong with them. Yet in their 20 years of marriage, they had nothing to show as a child.
Everybody became sympathetic and sobbed with her.
How often do we not appreciate the blessings we have? We are busy wimpering about what we have, failing to understand there are others struggling to get even a small fraction of what we have.
A story is told.......