ZAPH, MY BROTHER, MY BEST FRIEND — ALMOST 30 YEARS, FOREVER IN MY HEART ❤️‍🩹

Sometimes, when I think about you, Zaph, I find myself going all the way back to the very first day we met.

I was barely 19 years old, selling cheap perfume at a supermarket on Tom Mboya Street. Then you came along, and when I approached you, you point-blank told me that you didn't wear cheap perfume!

😂😂😂 Zaph, honestly, your honesty was alarming! You didn't even try to soften the blow. You just said it as it was. No sugar-coating, no pretending, no beating around the bush. That was you, right from the beginning.

Looking back now, I smile at that memory. Who would have thought that the man who bluntly rejected my cheap perfume would become one of the most precious people in my life? Who would have imagined that a moment like that would be the beginning of a friendship that would last almost 30 years?

Life has a funny way of introducing us to the people who will eventually mean the most to us. Our story began with your brutally honest words, and somehow, from that moment, a friendship grew into something I will treasure for the rest of my life.

Zaph, that was the man you were. You had a huge heart, but you never needed to dress up your words to make people comfortable. You were loyal, protective, and fiercely honest. You were the kind of friend who stood up for the people he loved, and you were never afraid to call me out when I was doing something stupid.

And believe me, you did not spare me! 😂❤️ If I was wrong, you would tell me. If I was being foolish, you would make sure I knew it. You were not the kind of friend who would stand by and watch me make a mess of things without saying something. You cared enough to speak up, even when the truth wasn't what I wanted to hear.

That honesty of yours could be something else, my friend, but it was part of what made you so special. With you, I always knew where I stood. There was no guessing, no pretending. What you saw was what you got.

Almost 30 years, Zaph. Just think about that. From that young person selling perfume on Tom Mboya Street to all the years of friendship that followed, we built a history that I will forever carry in my heart.

And now, how am I supposed to accept that you are gone?

How do I make peace with the fact that I will never again have another conversation with you, never hear that unmistakable honesty of yours, never have you call me out when I do something stupid? I would give anything for one more of those moments. Anything to hear your voice again, even if it meant being told, once more, that I was doing something wrong.

It is strange how the little moments we never thought much about at the time become the memories we would give anything to experience again.

I wish I could go back to that supermarket on Tom Mboya Street, back to when I was 19, back to that first encounter. I would look at you and think, There goes the man who will become my brother, my friend, and one of the most unforgettable people in my life.

If only we knew then what life had in store for us.

Zaph, thank you. Thank you for almost 30 years of friendship. Thank you for your loyalty, your protection, your huge heart, and your unapologetic honesty. Thank you for being the kind of friend who didn't just share the good times but also cared enough to tell me the truth, even when it hurt.

I am grateful that our paths crossed. I am grateful that a simple encounter over cheap perfume became the beginning of a friendship that money could never buy and time can never erase.

My heart hurts knowing that you are no longer here. There are so many things I wish I could say to you, so many memories I wish we could create, and so many conversations I wish we could have one more time.

But if there is one thing I know, it is this: you will always be part of my story.

Rest peacefully, Zaph. 🕊️ May God hold you in His loving arms. I hope you knew how much you meant to me, and I hope you knew that your friendship was one of the greatest gifts life gave me.

And wherever you are, my friend, I hope you still have that same huge heart and that same brutally honest spirit.

Who would have thought that a man who refused to wear my cheap perfume would end up leaving such an expensive void in my heart? 💔

Almost 30 years of friendship. A lifetime of memories. An irreplaceable brother.

Rest easy, Zaph. I will miss you more than words can say. Until we meet again, my Dibo, you will forever live in my heart. ❤️

In Loving Memory Of Zephania Owuor Okeyo (ZAPH)