Dearest Oluwakemi Ayoola,
You would have been 40 today.
4.0.
You would have been a fabulous forty with your sky-high heels and glamorous jewellery.
I imagine that at 40, you would no longer walk so fast (it was always impossible for me to keep up with you and I would end-up trailing many steps behind).
Your wisdom that always made you appear older would have grown and I imagine you now as a veritable sage, dispensing sound advice and counsel to anyone who asked (and even those who didn’t 
).
You were determined to elevate your quality of life and fly above the flock. So you were always reading and frank with your feedback.
You celebrated all the big and small wins with me, especially after I set-up W.TEC. You happily accompanied me to receive my first international award at the Grace Hopper Conference in Arizona.
You were my ever-ready travel companion and together we boarded planes and trains and explored continents. We took travel together for granted and if you were still here on this side of the divide, I can only guess that we would have planned a trip (or two or three) each year.
You were certainly the more outgoing one, but still with a certain reserve. You could be the life of the party, dancing on tables one moment and then withdrawn into your thoughts the next.
I imagine you applying your planning and analytical skills to parenting and you would have been the most intentional parent ever, raising thoughtful, kind and intelligent children.
All this will not be and although we miss your physical presence, we rejoice because we know that your soul rests with our Father, who you loved with all your heart.
We tend to forget how much a part of life death is, until a tragedy occurs and reminds us of the precariousness of life.
I rejoice because you lived life to the fullest, bubbling over with joy and laughter. I rejoice because you made every moment count and the memories of our time together stay with me. I rejoice because I know that death is not a permanent goodbye but more of a “see you later”.
Happy heavenly 40th birthday, Sis. See you later.
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