A reflection on Cousins, Family and Grief
As I travel along the Nakuru highway from Nairobi toward Nyahururu, my heart feels heavy because we are mourning the sudden loss of our nephew, Mwangi, through a tragic road accident at 25 years of age. The landscape passes by in quiet motion, and in this stillness, I’m compelled to write because writing has always been one of the truest ways I express my emotions. Today, I’m reflecting on life, family, and loss in a way I never have before. Seeing Death Through a New Lens Death has always been something I understood differently, but now I’m seeing it from a new angle, especially when it touches someone as close as a cousin. When a cousin loses a child, the shock reverberates through the entire family. My cousin’s sudden loss of her firstborn son has struck us deeply, not just because he was family, but because we have shared a long, close, and meaningful relationship. In many families, cousins are far more than relatives. They are often your first best friends, the ones who know your ...