Dear Jessica; A Letter from Uncle Rash

(Hi Jess, Uncle Rash sent me this mail. Go on, read it for yourself)

Dear Jessica,

Hi! It’s me! Rash! Or as your mother prefers to call me: Captain!

Listen, I know your mama has told you lots of things. Probably very little about me, but a lot about life. I’m not here to tell you about that. I’m here to tell you how amazing she is. How even through the toughest and darkest of times she still came out on top, stronger and braver than ever.

I met her waaaay back in the interesting year that was 2012. Good times, gaining experience in reverse tear gas throwing…probably shouldn’t have mentioned that. I don’t want your mama to come for my neck. (Pssst: It was totally fun though! Wink wink) Anyway, I didn’t know much about her back then but I could sense a kindred spirit within her. So I did the most logical thing and introduced myself…through some proxies of course. Yeah, yeah I know, I was a wuss. However, in my proper defense, I couldn’t just directly do so because she might have sensed my crazy and ran. Turns out we were destined for a great friendship ahead of us.

Fast forward to after our final exams and guess who got me started in the industry we are in? Her of course! She even showed me the ropes for a while. Yes, she was my Sensei! (PS: I hope I was able to get you on the Japanese Anime thing, like I got her hooked on being a Batsy fan)

She then decided to take a risk and improve her quality of life. She was down for a while, I tried to be her support but turns out she was her own major support. I was like the cladding to her column. And was she ever strong. She even got to have time to travel and pursue her hobby as a side hustle! Believe me, she was, sorry, IS a remarkable lady. I respect her, and don’t tell her this; but she’s in my Greatest Hall of Fame.

The Portrait of this little girl was taken by my friend Stephen Ouma during our recent trip to Lamu. It reminds me of the purity and hope that is borne of childhood. I thought I should use it for this post 🙂

Oh no! I’m out of time and I haven’t even got to the good parts! Well I’ll leave you with this: Take her advice to heart. And if in your teenage years your rebellious genes stir up and tell you not to listen to her, fight them. Because I’ve seen the little that she’s gone through and I bet she’s gone through lots more. She’s always right. Remember that. Now I have to find a way to comfort her after she “sent away” poor old Brendon Small.

Sincerely,

Captain Rash/Nightblade/Nytbleidd (either will work really)