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Angela Rose Doe of MN Loses Mother,
Sister
Monday,
March 1, 2010
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Omari
Jackson |
Thursday
night of February 18 came by as usual, and Angela (Gbeh) Rose Doe did not think
much of it. Like all days in these days of increment weather, all her mind was
set on the travails that were before her. And so it came to pass that Thursday
moved on to Friday, February 19.
Much
of the Thursday’s hard-work had eased off, but she felt restless somehow.
Once
in a while she would kind of jump up from bed, and stare at the empty walls in
silence.
“What
can this mean?”
She
could not find any answer for that one, and as the demands of the morrow was too
much on her mind, she went back to sleep, but not before a quick glance told her
the time was approaching three in the morning.
She
had not gone back for that long when the cell phone came to life, interrupting
her sleep. That in itself was not something unusual, for there had always been
calls from Liberia, from some relatives, and therefore she heaved herself from
the bed, and throwing her hand across and walking lazily towards the center
table, she lifted the phone to her ear.
In
a tired voice, she said, “Hello?”
But
events afterward happened so quick now that she thought about it, she understood
the urgency of the caller. The voice at the other end was in some kind of
excitement, and she could hear someone other than the receiver, suggesting,
“Tell her now.”
She
could not understand what was going on, for did these people not know that there
are six hours difference in time, and therefore when it is 9am in Liberia, it
means people are still sleeping in Minnesota, at 3am?
Mother Mary Dwuli Wilson
1938 - 2010
The
hesitation of the caller brought an ominous message to her mind. Lately her
mother, Mary Dwuli Wilson, had been complaining of stomach ache, and the last
time Angela spoke to her, she had joked, “Mama you should stop eating
pepper.”
“I
will do that,” Mama Wilson told her, in her usual mother’s voice, and having
not seen her mother for several years, the emotion that had existed between them
flooded to her mind. It was a question of when she would go back to Liberia for
a visit and for the grand re-union. That day lingered in her mind. But would
that day ever come? She might have thought about Liberian musician, C. C.
Bernard’s remarkable song, titled: “One way ticket to Liberia,” and
wondered when that decision would be made.
Now,
she was thinking, could something have happened to mama? Impatient now she told
the voice at the other end in Liberia, “Why you’re not talking?” in the
same Liberian tone of voice, that she could not avoid.
Then
she heard sniffing, like someone crying at the background, and it was then that
she began to fear for the worst.
A
little later she remembered few weeks ago, her husband, Jefferson Doe and
colleague, Duanna Siryon, had visited Liberia, under the banner of PRO-USA, and
had visited her mother, then very sick.
She
received her mother’s report, with calm, for it had been off and on, and so
never thought it could not be any major issue presently.
The
voice on the other end hesitated.
That
hesitation reminded Angela how “bad” news was delivered to loved ones. She
then felt her stomach churning her inside, and many questions coming suddenly
into her mind.
Among
her people and in fact many of the tribes in Liberia, a message about the death
of a loved one, is delivered in bits and pieces, to wear away the shock. Hence
Angela, after sometime began to put the pieces together and so when it was
finally revealed that her mother died that day, she was somehow prepared but not
before she lost her balance, dropping on the bed, and then sobbing, “My ma is
dead?” then invoking heaven to provide its comfort in such a difficult time.
So
Angela, known popularly by many as Gbeh, knew then that she would no longer meet
her dear mother in this life. It was a thought that Liberians in the Diaspora,
have grappled with. As Angela considered the sense of her loss, tears of
affection came to her assistance, and like what happened when Lazarus, a friend
of Jesus Christ died, and the son of God was informed by the sisters, Martha and
Mary, the death was so overwhelming that Jesus wept.
Angela’s
mind centered on her mother now, her brothers and sisters. Born on September 20,
1938, Mary Wilson’s union with Mr. Benedict Wreh-Wilson, Sr, (predeceased her
in July 1990, in the heat of the Liberian civil-war), and was blessed with
twelve children, nine of whom were biological, (three predeceased her, namely
Dominic Wreh-Wilson, the oldest, Lawrence Sapan
Wreh-Wilson in 19996, and Jerome Minicon Wreh-Wilson in 2002.)
The
surviving siblings are Elliott Wreh-Wilson, PA 814-572-1637, Regina Wreh-Wilson,
and Christina Wreh-Wilson, of MN, contact number 763-439-7526, Stephen Wreh-Wilson,
of MN 763-443-5914, Paul Wreh-Wilson, Beatrice Wreh-Wilson, MN 763-221-0069,
Angela (Gbeh) Rose Wreh-Wilson Doe, contact numbers are 763-245-9377;
763-560-0887, Benedict Wreh-Wilson Jr., and Joseph Wreh-Wilson.
On
his mother’s home-going, Steven said, “She was a great friend, who lived a
very simple life.” He said her mother believed in discipline, who wanted,
“the best for all of us children.” Stephen said he would miss his mother, as
long as he is alive.
Mary
Wilson was a member of the Knights of St. John and Ladies Auxiliary of the
Catholic Church. What now gives Angela some comfort was that, “all her life,
mama loved her church.”
Angela
mused, “Mama also loved music, her grand-children, and loved her God so much
that she lived according to the word.”
She
remembers her mother’s ever-ready effort to bring peace among colleagues.
“She
was a peace maker,” she said, “a loving mother and a wife.”
Her
mother, she said, was a friend who never failed help those in need, was how she
described her. “She always had a smile to give, believing in its power.”
Now
that she is gone, Angela said, “Mama we will miss you.” Meanwhile, Angela (Gbeh) Doe is aware that as a Christian, the
wonderful gift of resurrection, promised in Scripture, will sustain her and her
siblings throughout this difficult time, and at God’s appointed time, would
see her mother again. And she is also aware that this world is a temporary home
for those who exercise faith and hope in the Lord. And so whether the grim
reaper rejoices for its assault on her or not, everything, “is in the hands of
God, whose Christ said ‘You will live because I live.”
It
is said that misfortunes don’t come singly, and so while Angela and her
siblings are celebrating the sudden home-going of their mother, news arrived on
February 25th from Liberia that her half-sister Mrs. Theresa B. Jones, 59, died,
according to Angela, “She fell off,” according to the report, with 6
surviving children, all in Liberia.
Funeral
services in Liberia will be held on March 6, 2010, and in MN at Stephen Wreh-Wilson’s
residence on March 5th and 6th.-----Contributed by Omari
Jackson, a friend of the family.
Omari Jackson lives in Metro Atlanta, GA.
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