I promise you; this one will thrill you to bits. If it doesn’t tell me, I know we are not all the same. 
Of course, like the heading tells you… “Yes! Wait a sec.” What does the title of the script tell you anyway?
You know sometimes there are certain people you meet in life you, maybe not almost immediately, but later you become friends…don’t loose focus already. Let’s finish on this one together. Like I was saying, there are certain people that leave an immediate mark in your life personally though you may not know them PERSONALLY. That’s where this one begins.
Coincidentally her name is Joy. I have hardly personally known her until two days ago, and even that not through a face to face meeting. Guess where; through the internet, by email. I will let you a bit on current issues. But let me draw you a while back to when I first met this lady. Yes I know what I said, “lady!” for though a teenager back then she was not like your average girl. We met in church, of course, I couldn’t think where else we could have met back then- she’s the minister’s daughter- Yea, I know what you are already thinking, “Ohhh Edwin, then she’s like those goody goody girls.” Honestly, you have got to stop thinking on those lines. Since when did becoming bad become an achievement? Of course we should all be good, right? You would be saying, “Yes!” if your mind is functioning correctly.
Let’s not get too carried away, “back to business!” So, I had been seeing her all the time, never really took keen interest in knowing more about her. Of course there were the occasion little crushes here and there I had on her (you know how teenage boys get). Of course all I knew was that she was the minister’s daughter, what was more to know? I knew I should have at least said hello’s and hi’s. Thinking now, for the record, I can remember only two hello’s I said to her. Amazing, isn’t it? Yea, but that’s what happened. Besides, she was kind of a shy person, didn’t really talk much to you, if she didn’t know you that well, and I was likewise. I actually remember someone made a passing comment one time. She claimed it was from Joy’s mouth, “I don’t have a lot of friends.” Reflecting on that, I can now understand a bit. Surely I’m not in her mind, but nowadays we turn to have so many acquaintances, don’t we agree? But then we have so few people we can actually call friends. (I can see you nodding now) On and on we went, same thing every Sunday, occasionally on the weekdays we met in church.
Then one day, we had some thing of a sort, like variety in the Teen’s Chapel on a Sunday; people displaying all sorts of wonderful talents. Then it was Joy’s turn, probably looking at her, you would think, “She is going to sing.” Guess what? I was so wrong! I looked at her marveled as she rattled the whole chapter 103 of the Books of Psalms, without any reference. If you know your Bible it is a long one – 22 versus. Maybe a few people learnt what I saw that day: the others just marveled and wondered, “Is that Joy?” but didn’t follow through. I don’t care if she had to learn that for probably a year, but she did it. I still look at that day, today, and I feel too lazy to even try; I have loads of versus, but a whole chapter; that was talent! I was so challenge after her performance and for almost 6 years after that event, being with her lifted me. She definitely doesn’t know but she will soon, I know that she and a few other four people pushed me on. The three other started me on the writing spell, but when my strength was drained, God sent Joy (amazing what her name brought, JOY- I has an effect on the person) to encourage them on.
Well, years passed by we still hadn’t talked. Maybe I was the guy and should have but…yes, I have no excuse. I probably should have thanked her being for the stepping stone she was in my life. I guess I was just being naive and young. Then fortunately or unfortunately we left the church, we joined another church community, so all ties with her were broken. Were there even any? I had by then honestly forgotten about her, until a friend mine in school mentioned her. I don’t now remember what we talked about, but I know her name came up now so often in our conversations. I guess maybe she was opening up to people and they were opening to her, like I said maybe because up till when we left the church I hadn’t seen her and oooh! I forgot to mention that she was a friend of my buddy too, so it all adds us. I honestly won’t be surprised if she just knew my name and really got to hear things about me through my friend, Frank. I know how he gets with people; he can’t keep certain things issues sealed 
not that it is a bad habit but…I’ll leave you to think whatever you want on him but don’t let him hear you. Then one day, I remember asking Frank for her email address, because he claimed he had it. We were good friends but he refused it point blank, saying, “She says I shouldn’t give it to anybody!” Yea right…like I should have believed him. I know him, he always gets like that when he has a girl’s contact; thinking that his other buddies will in boy’s language, “win her over.” I don’t know what pushed me on, but one day I was looking through his things. For your information, not for her email address; he didn’t tell him where he kept it. Why would he? I was searching for a book he took from me, one I had my notes in, which he often took. I tore through his bag, didn’t find it. I rather found his, and I took it. Of course he copied those notes from me, so it didn’t really matter. He always took my books from my bag without asking; I was returning the favour, I was looking for my own book. Flipping through the pages, in one of them, there it was: Joy’s email address.
Well I figured, since I wasn’t really looking for it. Yeah right…like you believe me. So like a mad man said in CSI-that movie on forensic investigation, I watched yesterday night-, “finders, keepers!” Hey, I wasn’t mad. How bad can it get? I was just going to send her an email, if she replies, then I’ll see what I’ll do; she didn’t, then I’ll just go on as usual.
I’m getting to the end of this; you want to really check this out. I sent her the email, on the 27th of September, 2007. Like I said I was trying, if she did, fine! Well, yea she didn’t! So, of course I continued with my life. Here’s the exciting part, just yesterday I had the reply. When I saw it I was taken a back. Maybe it was not her, maybe one of those junk messages that just creep into your inbox with your friend’s tag, I thought but lo and behold when I opened it, that was the reply to my old email, as if it was just yesterday. For the record yesterday’s date was 17th June, 2008; number of months, I’ll leave that to you. When I had the message she sounded really nice in it. Far from what I had thought, she was like. Hey I had just got an email; in it she explained that she had tried to open this email address account for some time now, from the way we can judge it, a very long time! So meanwhile she had opened another account, which I had no knowledge of, and Frank:) wasn’t around anymore. We had finished with high school and so we weren’t in usual contact. Joy said for some reason that day which was yesterday she just tried to opened her old account where my mail was sent to and surprisingly it opened; amazing life isn’t it? So yesterday and today, we emailed each other.
Sadly, we are coming to the end of this script. I wish it didn’t have to end. There’s more, I haven’t ended yet. Of course first email, we try to get to know each other and stuff like that. Then she asked me of the signature I always use in my emails. I had two quotes attached to it. I know you want to know, you I’ll tell you, of course, we are here to share, but not on this script; surely on another one. She asked if I wrote those quotes and that she liked them. She also said she heard I was a writer and I loved writing. Sure I do love writing. You can feel it! Well I had the link to this blog also written beneath my signature on my emails. She said in her email, “I’m going to check the site right away when I’m done sending this.” Of course that was good to hear, I really wanted to people to see what I write and so if she wanted to, why stop her? Would you have? Of course, not!
Later, of course after reading she left her comments here, and I was stunned, still stunned. I mean, Joy brought JOY to me! Hopefully you would notice those comments here. She was touched, and that moved me. I definitely didn’t know Joy very well, but it showed me a different side of her. A beautiful, sensitive, emotional person; amazing what goes through our minds about people and when we take the time to know them; we realize they really were not what we projected. In one of her comments she said, “…it has been a pleasure being your friend…I ask God that the same ANOINTING of writing on Edwin rubs on me…You are a pencil and God’s hands…continue being, a blessing to people…” the last one really touched me to the core, “…that God adds more grease to your already greased hands.” I don’t know what to say anymore, I have known Joy for so many years, but only three days we with Joy: not a face to face interaction; she has inspire me to be more than I am and dream bigger and see past the horizon. Maybe she doesn’t know yet, what big influence she has on my life but I want to tell her “THANK YOU.” From the challenge she threw to me during that teen service and now, just two days, making three days in general I have really had an experience with her, she has really brought me JOY, just like her name is. Imagine many more days with her, I’m blessed to be called her friend.
Maybe you haven’t taken notice of that guy or girl, man or woman, young or old person, in your class, in your community, in your family. Stop taking impressions of people. Look, you don’t know them till, you know them personally. I know one thing for sure, there’s a lot of talent and inspiration in people. Hey maybe you could be that inspiration to people, like Joy my “new” friend. There’s a lot more for me to know about her, a lot more! Of course while receiving, I’m sharing it with the whole world and that includes her. Take that step now! After all, what is there to fear?
