Chichi was selfless. When my late father’s fortunes dimmed, my elder sisters, Chichi and Nma (after stellar results from FGGC Onitsha and Queens School Enugu respectively), opted to work and study part time, and focused on supporting myself, my elder brother Uche and my younger sister Amaka through University. While Amaka and I were at the University of Lagos, Chichi, Amaka and I initially lived at Chichi’s place at 14 Koya Street Surulere, Lagos. The space we shared in the Face-Me-I-Face-You was so cramped that if you stretched your arms with both palms pointing up, you would touch both sides of the room. As Chichi’s fortunes improved, she moved to a 2-Bedroom BQ in Ijesha with Amaka and I in tow. When I think about it now, she couldn’t have had any savings. As a Clerical Officer at UBA, she gave up almost all her salary in taking care of others, then still managed to squeeze out time to obtain her certification as an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (ACIB), complete a part time degree program in Business Administration at the Abia State University. It is a testament to her intelligence and diligence that against all odds, she left UBA as an Assistant Manager, a Chartered Banker and still went on to qualify as a member Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Earlier in the year, our mom Ifediche insisted that all her children and grandchildren come back from wherever they are and spend a week of the long summer holidays with her in Awka. It was providence that Ifediche made that call and we got to spend that time together because that was our first (and has come to be our last) full Ozoemene family reunion. A dark cloud befell the August 17th 2019 reunion commencement date that Chichi and her husband Ibekwe arrived. We received the sad news of the passing of her mother-in-law, Madam Helen Nwaobiara Nwosu, who they left earlier that day in Enugu. Sad as that development was, our children still had a blast, and it was mega bonding time for us siblings and our spouses present. The full squad of Ifediche, her five children and seven grandchildren was a sight to behold. Uche’s son Cheta was inconsolable when his cousin Iheanyi was heading back to Enugu after the reunion. Iheanyi was equally as sad. Amaka’s children Ebube and Kelechi could not stop talking about the great time we all had together. My children, Kaycee and Kosi, were equally as elated and wanted to know when we will do it again. So we made plans to re-enact the magic…plans to have an even more elaborate off-site reunion for next year, possibly at Ibom Hotel & Golf Resort and La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort we thought. Or even at the Port Harcourt home of either Uche or myself. My family and I left Awka on August 19th 2019 on such a high note. Then most of us congregated again in Nkwerre on October 26th 2019 for Chichi’s Mother-In-Law’s burial. I wrote a blog post on my Facebook page about the horrible state of our roads (published in the Punch Newspaper of October 28, 2019 as “Eastern Roads of Agony”) after I arrived Enugu from the burial. In fact, Chichi, in her characteristic manner, called several times to confirm that I had reached Enugu safely, especially because we were all concerned about the state of the roads. At the time, I did not realize that the bad roads I excoriated in my article will affect me in ways worse than just physical discomfort. I didn’t even realise that probably as people were reading the story in the Punch of Monday October 28, 2019, the bad roads, coupled with the indiscretion of a Peace Mass Transit bus driver, will take our beloved sister away from us, truncate all our plans with her for the future. For as vital a role she played in our past, Chichi was an integral part of every plan we had for the future. Now, a part of our whole is gone and we can never be complete again. My elder sister Chichi (Chinedu Ifeoma Nwosu, nee Ozoemene) meant the world to us. She was a selfless angel who was ever ready to circle the Ozoemene wagons at the slightest sign of trouble, and never hesitated to deprive self to ensure that all her siblings were in a good place. The pain from this unexpected loss is unimaginable as it has taken the entire Nwuwa Ozoemene family to a dark viscous place of primal grief that we have not encountered before. My heart goes out to my little nephew (her young son) Iheanyi and my brother-in-law Ibekwe, who we accompanied to Nkwerre to bury his aged mother and is now faced with the pain of having to bury our sister, his young wife. We hope that Chichi has found peace free from the trauma and pain she faced in her last days. Chinedu may be no more, but our selfless Chichi remains part of the Ozoemene family soul. May she continue to find peace. Dr. Jekwu Ozoemene (Brother).