I have a very special friend whom I regard as a brother now because our friendship has gone beyond friendship. My friend and I met in church in September 1995 and he made it his mission to work on my life and mold me in the fear of God.I still remember how he would pay me a visit at the time when my parents were very strict. We were not allowed visitors at the time, let alone  boy visitors but they would come even after warning them of my mother’s wrath. They would boldly come only for me to face the music alone at their departure, thank God it was only sharp rebuke and not walloping.  They finally succeeded at softening my mother to the extent that some days she was open to the idea of letting them drive her van.

My friend is caring and very supportive, he is one fellow you can rely on although he likes pretending he has a heart made of stone. He used to tell me he never misses anybody and of course i’d flatly tell him he was being economic with the truth. He’s a few years senior so you will understand the respect with which I address him. He proved himself wrong when he got married. I have seen him transform into another person, well, into that person he claimed he wasn’t. He’s just had a baby and during the pregnancy, his wife discovered what it means to be treated like a queen. While other men use pregnancy as an opportunity to avoid their wives and even cheat on them, my friend was a real gentleman, even sharpening his culinary skills to the pleasure of the Queen Bee. Those who know him will tell you the man would rather sleep hungry than prepare a meal.

Happy birthday to you my friend! You are one in a million, a true friend, kind, successful in your own right but still down to earth, opinionated yet not judgmental. you are funny, witty though totally boring at times. You are intelligent and wise beyond your age because of the path you chose to carve for yourself for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Above all, you are a mentor. May the Lord bless you and keep you my friend, may he satisfy with extra long life and cause you to prosper in all you do. You are already a blessing, may that increase and extend to other generations in Jesus’name.