On Friday 21st September 2018 (exactly 3 years ago today), I had the privilege of receiving home my grandfather Mr. Wilson Matambo Snr who was at the time 95 years old.
Grandpa’s visit was so mpromptu. We had been chatting for some time about his intention to visit once I was fully settled and married. But with no signs of me settling down anytime soon, he lost patience and called me one day to say he intends to visit me soon. We agreed that he would let me know on the day in good time.
The following day, I receive a call from a strange number and when I pick up, a gentleman (Bus conductor) answers to tell me that my grandfather is at Power Tools bus station in Kitwe waiting for me. What? Must be a mistake, which grandfather is this? As I answered so sure it was a wrong number.
When reality dawned that it was him, the living legend himself, I didn’t know what to do. I was at work with a lot on my hands and my nephew whom I was staying with was not around.
With no alternative option, I went to pick him not knowing in which health state he was in as well as what to do once I met him; do I take him home? leave him at my aunties place? Take him to a restaurant, or work? These were some of the questions which crossed my mind in addition to how he can just show up without allowing me to properly prepare for his coming.
We met and exchanged pleasantries before assisting him to get in the car not knowing what to do or where to go to next.Seeing that it was lunch time and being a bachelor then, going home was not an option. As I was thinking of the “matebeto” kind of restaurant to take him to; as if reading my mind, he said in Kaonde: “Ami nakukeba biyachizungu”.
My old man clearly made his intentions known from the onset; he didn’t want to eat nshima or tradition food but was craving some English meaty cuisines.
With the terms of lunch clearly defined, I decided to take him to Spur at Mukuba mall, and I wondered what he was going to eat. As I was looking at the menu to help him order something he could handle like mashed potato, onion rings, etc, he was too quick and told the lovely smiling lady waiter to bring him steak with fries. I became uneasy as I worried for the struggle which would ensue once the meal is delivered to him.
In the end, I must say grandpa did an excellent job as he swept clean everything on his plate.
The following day, grandpa indicated that he wanted to go out to a nice place for some fresh air.
“Where can we possibly go, which place would even be ideal for old folks like him?”
In the end, we decided with my nephew and cousin to take him to Mindolo dam, but we really didn’t know how it was going to be like knowing the kind of atmosphere there.
Surprisingly, we found some amazing guys who welcomed him and by extension us to their table and were so delighted and kept calling him nkambo (kaonde for grandpa).
In that moment, Wilson Matambo Snr was an overnight celebrity!
A photographer at the scene even came through and offered to take pictures of grandpa for free as everyone took turns to take one with him in addition to group photos.
Grandpa had an inner glow as he sipped on his beer (castle) with the pleasant cool breeze from Mindolo dam blowing straight to his face. He was simply in tune with what was happening, savoring the moment without saying much but simply smiling and being present.
As I looked at him in his serene moment, I remember thinking to myself:
“I have never seen nkambo this happy before.”
Looking back at how his “unplanned” visit unfolded, I learnt one important lesson of life.
Sometimes, you experience your best moments by not preparing for them but just letting things be.
Leave a Reply