06/06/2026
I always feel goosebumps all over my body whenever I see people posting and commenting about Fred. It brings pain to my heart. Please, if possible, can we stop posting about him for now and simply imagine that he is still alive and has traveled somewhere?
When I was a child, whenever I heard that someone had died, I thought it was not something serious. I would see people crying and see a coffin, and I used to tell myself that perhaps there was nothing inside it. As I grew older, I became curious about death, but children were never allowed to get close enough to understand it.
One day, when a fellow student passed away, I was determined to see for myself what everyone was always crying about. I was about 12 years old. When I finally saw the body, I did not cry because the person did not look like the friend I knew. I kept asking myself, "What is this? Is this really a human being? Is this truly Portia that I know?"
When I got home, I asked my father why people cried over something that did not seem real to me. He simply said, "You are still growing up. When you reach a certain age, you will understand."
It was not until I was about 25 years old that I truly understood the reality of death. I realized that when people leave through death, they do not come back. We lose people, and sadly, we will continue to lose people until our own time comes.
The blows that death deals to us are so painful that some wounds never fully heal. Many people carry the pain of losing their loved ones for the rest of their lives. Sadly, another loss has been added to that long list.
This is the reality of life. Let us understand the nature of this world and continue to share love, kindness, and support while we are still alive.