A few days ago, a friend of mine told me about a woman who lives in her neighborhood, who lost her only child few years after quitting her marriage. She said since I am hunting for people with unique, touching, inspiring life stories to share on my weekly column (TGNB Unfold!) maybe I could talk to her.

I've heard of parents losing their only child and often imagined how traumatic that is. But after listening to Esther Oniowoni narrate her story, it came home to me that it's a mind-bogging nightmare. I just hope never again will anyone have to go through such indescribable life-shattering experience.

In company of my friend, I went to her house, a one room apartment she used to share with her late elder sister and her children. The room which is situated in a mud house that appears to be more or less abandoned by its owner, don't only lack furnitures, but was practically empty - with few Ghana-must-go-bags, an old cupboard, a plastic chair, table and a bed. I was told the house has never experienced what it feels like to have electricity, even though an electric pole isn't far from the building.

Esther, 54, has lived here for the last seven years.

We got to her house at about 12noon and didn't leave till 4pm, thanks to her chatty, jovial and friendly disposition.

When I told her i'm a reporter who will like to share her story with the world, she was elated and said she'd love to tell her story. Although she didn't understand what a blog is, she was very happy someone was actually showing interest in her and everything that has happened to her.

Esther who spoke in pigin, said she got married at a very tender age of 14 back in the 70s. She said she suffered several pregnancy complications that after she had her son, Moses, no other pregnancy lasted more than three months.

She said marriage was a bad experience for her. So bad she had to ran away with her son to save her dear life. Her husband was the combination of everything a husband shouldn't be - he smokes, drinks, womanizes and worst of all beats her up at will.

Esther who lost her parents at a very tender age, recalled times she died and rose again following severe beating and torture from her husband. There was one occasion she spent three whole month in an hospital bed after sustaining multiple internal and external injuries.

She said on the fateful day, her husband had returned with a strange woman believed to be his lover and said she was going to be staying with them from that day on, Esther protested and that landed her in an hospital bed for the next three months. Her husband used pistol to pound her like yam.

She said she never returned to his house. She left for the village with her son, than he was 19, immediately she was discharged from the hospital.

Esther and her son stayed in the village for years before she was hit with a boit from the blue.

Her son worked in a bakery, while she does menial jobs as well as farming to keep the body and soul together. But unfortunately for her, her son sustained major injury at work, after an engine chopped off his entire five fingers. He died at the hospital few weeks after.

It's been several years since he passed on, and his mom hasn't gotten over it. Probably, will never do. According to her, she died that day. Her whole world came to an utter end the day her son died in her arms.

I asked her if she ever considered a second marriage, she said haven experienced all that she did in the hands of her estranged husband, anything that sounds like marriage scares her. She said marriage isn't for everyone and she is, sadly one of those.

After the tragic death of her son, Esther slipped into insanity and for two whole years she didn't have any idea what she was doing. She practically rome the streets raving mad.

It's took the divine intervention of God and family members to get her back on her feet.

She said she returned to the city to join her sister and her children in that one room apartment seven years ago because life at the Village was lonely and almost impossible to live.

Esther has lived a hard-scrabble life for as long as she can remember and now, it's seems normal to her - from being an orphan to being a victim of domestic violence to being a childless mother to living life on the breadline. Indeed, it's been one misfortune or the other.

Her eyes were glistening with tears all thought. I could feel she was still in grief. It's was in so much pain she said she wished the death that took her son killed her instead.

Her elder sister passed on a few months back and has already been buried. Speaking about her, Esther said she watched as her children took home her corpse and laid her to rest. Adding that she haven't been able to stop crying knowing that one day she will give up the ghost and there wouldn't be a single child to bade her final goodbye.

She ended by saying being the kind of person that she is, she wouldn't want to give her relatives a hard time burying her when she dies, so she has began paying weekly contributions and hope to gather enough money for her own coffin before her time runs out.

She said she is still trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her life and wondered if there is happiness after loosing a loved one and if she would be able to find it.

By the time we asked her to pose for pics, her eyes were already red and downbeat.

http://www.topgistng.com/2015/12/tgnb-unfold-when-only-child-dies-sad.html