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Tide Turner
He was the one from a poor background,
she was from the upper class
Her family was extremely close-knitted,
he was a total outsider
She was the one that came after him,
She did so in a subtle way but the intention
was quite clear
At the time it was a jolly good ride for him
He felt he had nothing to lose
She was beautiful, Ivy league educated,
financially secure and had a very warm
heart
What else was he supposed to be looking
for?
They courted for a year
In that one year, he made an observation
Her two older sisters in the UK
were divorced with kids
She told him her sisters got married too
early and both their marriages crashed
in the fifth year after they had their
second babies
The stories were untidy but it was summed
up as the marriages started very gloriously
but towards the third year of marriage
things went sour
Her sisters started gathering pieces of
evidence against their husbands so that
they can get custody of the children
From voice notes to videos and chat records
They kept a record of everything that
could help them get a favourable judgment
against their spouses in the court of law
Like a peacock, she told him how smart
their parents were and how her sister
were advised by their mother to protect
themselves and safeguard the future
of their children at all cost at the expense
of their unfortunate husbands
She was twenty-seven at the time
He was thirty!
They got married without much fuss
Unlike her older sisters, she had issues
conceiving due to some hormonal
challenges
They opted for IVF after two years of
trying other options
Her parents volunteered to pay but
the idea didn’t sit well with him
He was into printing at the time
He got some jobs and was able to
raise the money
He paid for the procedure
They had a set of twins
He was a very good father, his children
were his life
As soon as the children clocked six
months, he noticed an unusual and
unsettling pattern
His wife would take the children to
Her parents’ house for the weekend
to spend time with their grandparents
she would blatantly refuse to take
them to his parents even for a
few hours visit.
His parents were not as educated as
her own and she would insist the
children would pick up local dialects
from his parents because they were
at that stage where they could easily
pick up stuff
He never could understand it
Whenever she spoke like that, it
sounded to him like she was insulting
his parents and it always made him
feel terrible
They had a lot of arguments over it
Eventually he decided the children
would either be made available to
both grandparents or none
He didn’t want his children growing up
knowing only her part of the family
She defied him and took them to her
parents whenever she wanted, even
on weekdays
Her parents also visited anytime they
Wanted but his own parents had to lobby
and complain before they get to visit
once or twice a year
He was hardworking but she was still
wealthier than him by virtue of her
parent’s support
She placed the children in a school she
knew he couldn’t afford, insisting all he
had to do Was give her whatever he had
as a form of support
He felt the most expensive is usually not
necessarily the best and the children
could get the best from a less expensive
school but she wouldn’t reason with him
She always insisted that her father told
her to put her children in
The most expensive schools
He coped until he stumbled across some
messages on her laptop
Her cache of evidence against him
It was crazy
She had recorded all their volatile
conversations and doctored them in
such a way that it felt as if he was a
raving lunatic who spoke on and on
without a single response from her
He stumbled across the file on a
public holiday
She had taken the children to her
parents and he was searching for a
movie she had on her laptop
He wanted to watch it to while away time
He listened to the voice notes and read
the chat records
He started praying for divine help
He knew it was over!
She had begun to build her case
against him
He sent a voice note to the brother
in Jeans and T-shirt on WhatsApp
“How can you help me sir?” That
was all he said
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt
called him and prayed with Him
The following weekend, their church
pastor sent for him
He got to the pastor’s house and met
his wife
His wife had told the pastor she wanted
to be separated from him and presented
her evidence
He was depicted as a violent man who
could cause her and their children
bodily harm
The pastor tried to mediate to no avail
His wife says she wanted at least six
months separation to see if they can
still continue
She had rented an apartment and
furnished it
She was going to keep the children
because he couldn’t afford their bill
and she can
The pastor asked him what he had to say
He told the pastor he wanted to keep
his children
The Pastor said no court of law would
award three year olds to a single man
when they have a living and healthy
mother
He told the pastor he would fight with
everything he has got
The pastor told him it would be a waste
of time given the evidence before him!
It was a no win situation
He called the brother in Jeans and T-shirt,
“God has failed me sir, they have taken
away everything, my wife and children
are gone. I am now a desolate man!”
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt told
him to laugh!
Just laugh and shake the pastor’s hand
and leave
He did as instructed.
She moved out with the children that
night
He sat in his sitting room drenched in
tears as her parents and sisters
accompanied by four mobile policemen
came to the house with her to take
everything
He slept in the sitting room, afraid to
go to his own room or see the
children’s room on the way there!
His worst nightmare had happened
and God was asleep.
On Tuesday morning, one of his wife’s
older sisters called him
She said he was needed at a hospital
called Soteria
He found his way there as quickly as
possible
He met all of them at the reception
They said his wife was suffering from
mental exhaustion
The children had refused to eat or drink.
One of them was stooling while the
other was vomiting
Their song was “Daddy”
(They were asleep when he got there)
The psychiatrist told them the separation
was too sharp for the children
They had to eat the humble pie and
send for him!
He didn’t see her
He was too happy to return their daughter
to them and keep his children
A week later, he got a life-changing
appointment with a firm desperately in
need of his expertise as a marine engineer
in Qatar
He moved!
PS: Her husband would often say God
turned his story around just as he was
about to give up
He moved to Qatar with his children
within six weeks
His wife got better and joined them
three months later
Her family realized she wouldn’t get
better without her husband and children
Glory be to God