Family and friends will be burying the remains of Olufemi Attah this morning at Atan Cemetery in Yaba, Lagos but what will Femi remind us of? And who will he remind us about?
Femi will remind us of the power of the regular. The power of the familiar that is easily taken for granted. The power of just being available and within easy reach. And the exceptionalism of the ordinary. The spectacular in the routine and every day showing up at the duty post.
Consistently.
Who will he remind us about? In my mind one person stands tall above the rest. She woke up one morning, her mind set on one primary task. She had got some nice-smelling ointment and was going to anoint someone she greatly admired. She didn’t discuss her mission with anyone. She simply went and did as her heart had moved her to do. When she completed her mission and was being upbraided by some people, she didn’t utter a word. The one on whom she had so lavished her love came to her defense and proclaimed a certain honor that would follow her till the end of time.
She had no idea such honor was waiting for her when she responded to the prompting of her heart. She simply moved to do good to another. But for the drama that followed her gesture, she would easily have disappeared from the crowd and gone back home, but definitely considering when she may have another of such moments. The physical display may not have been something that she did often but it reveals something about her heart. Whereas the people thought it was a waste, she didn’t think so. It was from her heart. And no beat of the heart is ever wasted. Every beat takes life further.
Femi was like this lady in the sense that he wasn’t someone to fuss over any of the many remarkable things he did for family, friends, colleagues, his church, etc because behind those displays was a heart that had fully given of itself to bless others.
May God’s promised comfort abide with his wife Abisoye, his children Tito and Ini, his mother, Mama Attah, his siblings Yinka, Fayo, Niyi, Remi, and the rest of the family.
