Howdy…

This may come as a surprise to you. Why am I here posting instead of concentrating on academics, as I previously stated?

I hope you can tell on what you’ve read about me so far that I’m an emotional person. I get moody from time to time, which causes me to withdraw from the world and, more significantly, from those who care about me. I consider myself fortunate to have friends and family who understand and support me for who I am. Regrettably, I am not my typical self today. Yes, I am grateful to be alive this morning, but not everyone in my family can say the same.

Lauretta Maphaka Teffo was an angel sent from on above who came to earth to fulfill her dreams of becoming a tenacious community leader, an elegant mother, a supporting sister, a compassionate friend, and a tranquil daughter.

To be truthful, I didn’t know Miss Teffo very well, but I saw her at family gatherings all the time, and she always complimented my appearance. One thing I knew about her was that she was polite and kindhearted. My mother and I have always viewed ourselves as queens, and as a result, we have chosen to remain rooted in the Lord and his word. Unfortunately, this might make others feel uneasy since something deep inside them is being challenged. Nonetheless Sesi Laula adored my mother and me from the moment she met us. She would communicate with my mother daily.

They spoke about anything and everything, but their daughters were always a topic of conversation. They used to tease each other about how similar their lives were. My mother experienced a genuine connection and sisterhood with someone for the first time, and it made me happy. Sesi Laula’s ability to make my mother happy made me happy.

My sister Laula died last Thursday, and I found out about it on Thursday. I was unsure who my mom was talking about at first until she provided me a photo of her. When my mother returned from work, she found me crying. She attempted to console me by telling me to be strong and that she was resting peacefully, but she didn’t realize I wasn’t grieving because Sesi Laula had died. I, on the other hand, was grieving for her daughter. Remember the similarities I mentioned? Miss Teffo, like my mother, has only a daughter who is four years old. It crushed my heart to learn how being an only child leads to you becoming closest friends with your mother. I started screaming as if it had been my mother who had died.

Who will she now confide in throughout her day? Who would she turn to for advice now if a boy bothers her at school? Who’s going to tell her jokes purely to make her laugh on days when she’s in a grumpy mood? Lord, who?

“I am the resurrection and the life,” you stated in your word. A person who believes in me will live even if they die, and a person who lives by believing in me will never die.” I know she’ll be alive in her heart, and I know her spirit will be there to help her. Yet I can’t help but weep for her. Who will continue to pamper her like a princess and acquire whatever she desires? Who is going to instill in her the value of education? Who will teach her the value of being a woman and the roots we all have deep within our souls?

“If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord,” you said. I understand that whether Sesi Laula lives or dies, she belongs to you Lord, and I recognize that accepting a loss is difficult because death is not a wedding one can plan for. We have no choice but to rely in your plan because it emerged out of nowhere. All I ask is that you continue to be there for her, as you have been for all of the other young girls who have lost their mothers.

Continue to be there for her, same as you were for all the other daughters who lost their mothers before they could see them marry. I ask that you remain to be there for her in the same manner that you have been there for all the females who have lost their mothers and beat the odds to become accomplished and educated. You’ve never abandoned any of them, and I have faith in you to never abandon her.

With that said, Father, I know you have heard my cry.