That Thursday morning the teachers had all been in clusters, whispering. The usual bubbly devotion did not go as we knew it to. It was a rush. Even classes were boring and for the most period, my class teacher just gave us class work or otherwise rest our heads on the desks.
Justice did not come to school that day, even the next. He was one of my closest friends in class and he sat in the seat behind mine.
Sunday evening, my parents got ready to go out. I grumbled and grumbled until they let me go with them. We arrived at Justice's parents place, much to my surprise and were received by a lady whom I did not know but who looked a bit like his dad. Justice lived in same neighborhood as me, but more than that, his father and mine worked in the same establishment. We were family friends. Cordial even.
We had only sat a few minutes when a puffy-faced, red-eyed Justice's mother walked into the living room. My dad got up and gave her a hug first and when my mum did so too, she began to cry.
Little me asked, "aunty, where is Justice?" My mum shushed me immediately and they all ignored me. I was lost but I knew that something was amiss. With the dry, washed-of-life face of the father and the sobbing of the mother, I knew something was wrong. But I could not speak.
The rest of the term, and till we graduated, I never saw Justice ever. Well, it wasn't until I had grown older and his brother died too that I learned it was from the sickle cell disease.
Did that give me the much knowledge enough? No. I honestly thought it was some random disease.
Since I did not even have science classes and I paid little attention to the one/two health education classes(which were taught on surface level), I had to learn about these things along life's way.
From mingling, I've met with people bearing the AS and SS genotype and although I can't tell what if feels like to live in the fear and distraught and most of them do, I can tell that it's horrible. Some, who open up about their health say they sometimes feel resentment towards their parents. I don't know how that feels. The only anger that I feel is towards partners in this present age and time who shut their eyes and ears to reasoning because of love. Trust me, I've seen people like that.
Genotype and compatibility is a topic that I have come to hear over and again. Everytime on social media, I read about it; maybe couples struggling with the aftermath of their decisions, children going through episodes as a result of their health, one thing or another.
These days, it's drummed into prospective couples ears to go for medical tests and go separate ways if they don't fit the healthy strand. The pains is not worth the supposed love. What is even the "love" if you both, knowing your statuses, fully knowledgeable of the result of coming together, still go ahead with being couples. The foolishness is even in wanting to bear kids and hoping that, by some miracle, they
It's very difficult to part from a lover when the relationship is long gone into years or even many months. That's why it is highly encouraged to talk about all the necessary things in the first few days or weeks of getting to know one another. First things first before getting yo know about favourite food, colour, likes, dislikes and all of those other shenanigans.
The topic of medical compatibility should be no hard to broach. There's no too early time for it. And maybe, it doesn't have to be approached like a military question. Going about it from a gist route on something about health is fair too.
I want to believe that we're at that time when there's no much need for so much sensitization as the most of us are highly educated on the demerits of makong certsin choices. Still, we wont stop raising awareness and spreading the word as it's for the good of us, our offspring and our world.
Thanks for stopping by.
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