Things Fall Together

God works in such mysterious ways. After completing (and enjoying) Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie earlier this summer, I decided to re-read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Things Fall Apart was required reading for me my freshman year of high school. Although my English teacher was quite passionate (I heart Mr. Croonquist!) about the book, I remembered very little about Okonkwo past 10th grade. So, I wanted to give it another shot. I also noticed a copy of the novel at home a few years back while organizing my makeshift library. It wasn’t from Mr. Croonquist’s class either, this copy belonged to my father. Now, my dad was an avid reader of everything from science-fiction to history and I have lots of his books but this one in particular was really special. My father passed away during the early part of my 9th grade school year so we never had the opportunity to discuss Things Fall Apart with each other. Since BB, Sr. (he's the original Bsquared) was knowledgeable on colonization and the middle passage, I'm sure he had strong opinions about it. Honestly there was very little he didn't have a strong opinion about, lol. Yes he is deceased but he left me with so much (physically, mentally and spiritually) and my re-reading this book, his book as an adult has a greater meaning then it did in 1990 when I read it out of obligation.

The icing on the cake of all this is my buddy CM gave me an indigo dyed book cover that she purchased in Ghana to protect my dad’s paperback. After hearing my story she wanted me to keep the book in tip-top shape. Wasn’t that thoughtful? Although the book is set in Nigeria, the West African connection is still there. And peep how the cost when my dad purchased it was SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS!!!

The body goes away but our spirits never die.