?Death makes angels of us all and gives us wings where we had shoulders round as ravens claws.??In Komla?s case I have come to learn it was different. His death has not made him a greater hero than he was in real life; it has only made his greatness more apparent. And even though one could have guessed this from the numerous tributes he has received from great men, the one thing that really brought this home was the tribute this morning from his widow, the lady Kwansema Dumor.
Today in Ghana, most people would have us believe that since love doesn?t pay the bills, and potential is not in dollars, these are minor, rather than major factors in settling down with someone.?According to Kwansema, when her friends realized she was getting serious with Komla they asked her, ?Why?? Why was she taking this ?student boyfriend? so seriously, and ignoring other men who were better established? And she replied succinctly that she saw greatness and potential in the man. And boy, oh boy, was she ever right.
In Ghana we are very private with our love lives, especially married couples. Public display of affection is limited to the bare essentials, and the occasional social media share. Thus it becomes hard to have a glimpse of true love among our public figures, if this elusive gem really does exist. But today I think I saw it. I saw it when Kwansema Dumor gave her tribute to her beloved husband, an ode to true love. It really touched me in a way that few things have, and I realized that no matter how profoundly Ghanaians feel this loss, there is a family that feels it in a way we never could. And there is a woman who lost the love of her life, and she can only pray that God keeps him, till they meet again.
The anecdotes she told about her husband were heartwarming, and it showed that greatness is no excuse for a poor family life. They painted a picture of genuine unadulterated happiness. She said, she and her kids would almost literally trip over each other to be the first to hug him when he came home from work. I don?t even see that often in movies, much less in real life. Choking back the tears, she shared yet another story of their life together.
She asked him, ?Do you know what is better than lying in the arms of a man you love and are married to??
He asked, ?What??
She replied, ?When that man is THE Komla Dumor?.
That was surprising. I had always assumed that no matter how big you were, when you went home you were just ?Da? or ?Mewura?. And here we see that even though Komla was just another Dad when he went home, much the same way that say, Obama was ?Dad? and not ?Mr. President? to Malia and Sasha, Kwansema knew what she had. She knew the ?student boyfriend? that she had stuck with from her university days had grown into a celebrated global figure and this was not lost on her. She loved him in all his states. From ?grass? to grace.
So to conclude, as much as this is a tribute to Komla Dumor, it is also a celebration of the great woman who stood by his side to the end. The death of Komla Dumor may be a true tragedy, but we can look at it in a different way, perhaps through the black rimmed glasses they both so ubiquitously featured:
?Komla and Kwansema, A Modern Love Story.?
Rest in Peace Komla Dumor, Ghana says.
Opunimagine:?
