Of someone who extended kindness to you, but they passed on before you could thank them.
About 10 years ago after high school, (yes niko third floor) I got a placement as a volunteer in an NGO. It was my first time in Nairobi. Life wasn't easy, and I was being hosted by a close relative. The little stipend I was getting could barely cover my expenses. In the said organization, there were campus students on attachment. One of them was this lady, who was a student at UON. Her name was Sylvia.
Her acts of kindness involved getting me some lunch or snacks, whenever she got her stipends. She must have seen through my little struggles. I never got her phone number, but at least had her email. She completed her attachment and went away, before I could know it. Actually we never used to talk much. The only thing I had was her email.
Years later, I realized just how kind she had been, and how deep my situation must have resonated with her. I wanted to talk to her, and let her know how grateful i was. I tried sending emails, but got no response. Searched through the internet, but couldn't find anything. I kept coming back to it, trying to find any detail. Then one day I came across a profile on Fb, of someone who was at the same entity. Stalked through the friends list, and finally saw the very face I had been looking for. Rushed to the profile, and sent a friend request. I couldn't see much on it, since her privacy settings didn't allow. Time lapsed, and the friend request was still pending. Good thing was that I had her full name. So I searched it all over other social platforms, as well as Google.
My shock when Google returned an OBITUARY! The obituary was published more than a year ago, at the time. I still had my doubts, so I kept searching.. and my fears were finally confirmed when I came across her Instagram profile where one of the last posts had replies of 'RIP'. Still hurts that she left before I could thank her 😢
I learnt to thank people early enough.
TLDR; Someone was kind to me. I tried tracing her, years later to say thanks, only to find out from an obituary that she already passed.
What's your story?