MY LATE LITTLE HALF BROTHER IS ALSO MY FATHER.

    I came from a polygamous home and Lukman was my late little half brother, the last of my father children born at the age of eighty plus. He was born after the death of my father and the mother gave birth to him through difficulties. I never realized how much I love him on till his death because I left home when he was about 3 to 4yrs.
    After I left the village, I was not opportune to see him again before he died at about 9yrs. From the stories I gathered, Lukman was very strict with the mom, my step mother, he made his decision very clear to her but allow his mom to have her way in matters of argument. I remembered that he was also very précised to my mom issues too probably because he felt they were his wives. I saw those traits in him even when he was younger but also very friendly with all of us because he believed that he was our father. He goes from house to house to check the well being of my sister and half sisters in the village who has married as at that age. He always talk boldly as if he was in his twentys. He was very sensible and sensitive. He sometimes confide in my mom or my sister things he felt important to him. I can also realized how much he love his sister Meriam, the only person that was with him the day he died in the hospital. Lukman life was short but actually leaves as a father to us.
    Now is the issue, after Lukman died, I feel much pain in me, one because I did not see him for a long time while I was away from the village. Two, the more they relates his stories to me the more I grow fond of him wishing if I have see him in his last days. Thirdly, I now realized how much I love him.
    I sat down today without knowing what to do for my late little half brother so I decided to write about him. May the almighty God, Allah forgive your short comings if any on the account of your age and put you in paradise with your father you never knew but played his role perfectly on us. I really wish I hard seen you in your last days but forgive me for been away for so long Lukman, my late little half brother!!!

THE MAGIC WORD THAT CAN KEEP RELATIONSHIP WORKING FOR EVER!!!

Many at times we have relationship that started very smoothly but later developed into hatred, even wishing the other partner no life or attempting to take his or her life. These are not existing only within relationships but also family circles. As a result friends are at each other neck, brother against brother, broken homes etc. We fail to realized that relationship is like a moving vehicle which needs to be maintained from time to time in other to function properly and the maintenance of relationship is "apology, the ability to say am SORRY which is the magic word that makes relationship keep moving". As a matter of fact, it has worked for me as a  husband and a father in family issues, and as a worker in the office, even getting away from issues that would have cost me dearly, just to say I am indeed very sorry, make issue resolved.
However, there is no special rudiment on how an apology should be expressed but the following tips can assist in expressing acceptable apology.
1.   Responsibility: The way a partner admits responsibility goes a long way for an acceptable apology to be tendered in a relationship to work smoothly. Either of the partners has to accept responsibility of what he did wrong, what he supposed to have done or not to do, having it in the back of mind that we are human prone to mistakes.
2.   Remorseful: The way by which regret is to be expressed for a wrong doing in a workable relationship to be sustained. Either of the partners that realized he or her wrong doing should express regret in such a language that show genuine remorseful. In other words, saying sorry for the wrong doing in such a manner that the partner will believed that the act was not intentional.
3.   Forgiveness: Asking for forgiveness for a wrong doing is an ingredient of apologizing in relationship. The partner that is saying sorry should genuinely ask for forgiveness, show that there is need to trust again, no doubt.
4.   Change: It is also a fact that accepting responsibility, showing remorseful, asking for forgiveness without ready to change from a  wrong doing or attitude will have little or no meaning in perfecting relationship. The partner taken responsibility for the above three factors should also ready to change genuinely so that the wrong done will not re-occur in future. 
      Finally, the magic word, SORRY has no limited numbers of times that it has to be said and when it is to be said, but care should be taken not to abused it. As  long as a partner continue to say sorry and the other agrees to accept, the motion at which the relationship is working will remain constant and working for ever.