The Day I Visited My Mentors

I still remember that Sunday last year as if it were yesterday. On that day, I woke up effortlessly early in the morning eager to visit my piano mentors, Fr. Peter Assenga and Prof. Charles Nyamiti, at the Apostles of Jesus Major Seminary in Lang'ata, Nairobi.

Feeling inspired, I arrived at the seminary at around 9:50 a.m., only to be told Fr. Assenga was officiating a mass and Prof. Nyamiti was resting. But that didn't dent my spirits since I enjoyed waiting for them on the verandah of the seminary's library where I overheard some young men claim that God ended the world; it's just that He forgot to carry His people.

Fr. Assenga did finish officiating the mass after which I went to meet him. He seemed elated to see me, and he must have sensed I was equally elated to see him given the way he greeted me jovially. Then he asked me what I do for a living. Well, I can't recall the answer I gave him; I wish I had let him know that I am an upcoming blogger.

We kept on conversing as we ambled along a cloister in the seminary on our way to meet Prof. Nyamiti, a priest who bears some resemblance to Mwai Kibaki - the third president of the Republic of Kenya, my Motherland.

As luck would have it, we met Prof. Nyamiti heading to the mess of the seminary for his mid-morning tea. So that he could attend to a pressing task, Fr. Assenga left the two of us together.

Prof. Nyamiti couldn't recall me; I had to refresh his memory by showing him a photo of us that was taken way back in 1999. As I accompanied him to the mess, he apprised me of his health problems that included arthritis on his right knee.

When he informed me that he was 85 years, I quickly remembered Dr. Geoffrey W. Griffin, the founder of Starehe Boys' Centre where I had my high school education, telling us that a man is supposed to live for 70 years and any additional years are just a bonus from God. I therefore discerned an opportunity to make Prof. Nyamiti feel grateful.

"Someone once told us," I said to Prof. Nyamiti, "that a man is supposed to live for 70 years and any more years than that are just a bonus from God."

"Yes!" Prof. Nyamiti agreed, "Even the Bible says so."

Haiya! I hadn't known that fact is in the Bible in spite of having studied it from Genesis to Revelation. The Bible actually says so in Psalm 90:10.

We continued with our delightful conversation in the mess where I partook a cup of tea and slices of bread slathered with honey, the kind of breakfast I'd like to be having when I build my own home, God willing.

All told, that Sunday I visited my piano mentors was a splendid day for me. And I am striving to create more such days in the future. So help me God.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on the day I visited my mentors, you might also enjoy another one on "Overcoming Gluttony" which I wrote a few months ago. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.