Eulogy For Kambili's Life

Amadi, I have never gotten to truly thank you for helping change Kambili’s life. That is why I brought you here today. I wanted to talk to you alone before the wedding with Kambili. I will be making a similar speech later today, but without as many personal things. I want to thank God for putting you into Kambili’s life and helping to turn it around. She was in a horrible place when she was younger. She had an abusive father who would not let her have a voice, but you helped her get through that. Even though you left for a few years, you came back and fell in love. Amadi, you brought out the confidence in Kambili. You are a hero because you introduced her to smiling, laughing and love, which are things that she has never seen before.

When

After that first dinner, we all went into the living room and prayed with you. After that we started to sing but Kambili did not join, and you noticed this too. This was when I first saw the affection that you had for Kambili and how you wanted her to be happy. You said to her, “I haven’t seen you laugh or smile today, Kambili” (139). You were in a difficult situation there. You told me that you wanted to see Kambili enjoy life, but you did not see that. You knew that you had to confront her about that and you did. Later that month, I remember you told me about the first time that you had seen Kambili smile. It was when I asked you to take Kambili out to play football. You saw a lipstick stain on Kambili’s hand and decided to take a risk and ask her about it. I am very glad that you did because it caused her to smile. You told me you saw “...an embarrassed and amused smile” (177) on Kambili’s face. Kambili wanted to be like Amaka and me. She wanted feel more confident and she thought that putting on the lipstick would do that. If Kambili did not go with you that day, I do not not think that we would be at this point today, with Kambili sitting outside this room wearing lipstick and smiling. You also told me about the car ride after Kambili after you played football. You both started by listening to music and by the time they reached the chorus, Kambili was nodding her head to the rhythm.

Kambili smiled when you said she was looking a lot better. I had never really seen her smile much before that so it was surprising to see her happy. She stood up and you hugged each other. Kambili backed away first and you could see in her face that she loved that hug but she just wanted everybody else to get out of there. At that moment, you could tell that she really loved you, even though she had even known you for a short time. Another time I could really see the affection between you two was when you were laughing in the garden about the flowers. I remember glancing out of the window and seeing your conversation. It started seriously; you took one of the flowers from her hand and talked. It soon turned into Kambili laughing at you. I don’t know what she was laughing about, but you could see the love in your faces. Before you left for a few years, you told Kambili that you were leaving Nsukka. I know I should not have done this, but I eavesdropped on your conversation. You talked about how you will write each other when you were away. Kambili started crying, “Then [you] enclosed [her] in [your] arms and held [her]” (282). You showed Kambili that somebody can truly love you. I tried doing this, by inviting her to my house and treating her more like a daughter than a niece, but that did not push through to her. She even kept her strength when her