Sorry It Was Too Late

Maman Germaine died last night and I didn’t go and see her when I heard that she was very sick in intensive care. Two days later she passed away. There is no feeling that can make a pit in your heart like knowing that you lost the opportunity to visit someone on their deathbed. All the thoughts rush through your head-‘why didn’t I make time to go, why was I so selfish with my time, it would have taken me just one hour.’

At the wake today I cried with her sister who worked with her at the guesthouse I stayed at for two years in Goma. Maman Germaine was the head the of the guesthouse and always wanted things to run smoothly, which meant she was often frustrated at the various staff turmoil and the complications with managing a house that sees hundreds of American and European visitors a year, many visiting Congo for the first time. But, she and I had a strong friendship and she would tell me the problems she was facing and we would end up laughing about all the difficulties often faced at the house.

Maman Germaine was a lovely woman who leaves behind three children with no mother or father. She was widowed and supported all of the kids through school herself. At the wake I spoke to the three of them whose faces looked completely expressionless and empty. What do you say to three children who have just become orphans?

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