The pain was huge.

Many factors could lead to depression. Most victims of depression get tired with life. They feel that the life that they are living is worthless. They became hard not just only on themselves but in some instances, on the people around them. This is the reason why patience and understanding is very important when dealing with someone going through depression.

I have had a fair share of a difficult moment particularly when I lost two siblings within the space of 10 months. The pain was like an arrow pierced through my heart. I was able to heal fast, if not for anything, for the fact that I needed to be on my feet to support my mother in surviving the shock.

My eldest sister fell sick in January 2021. In what was diagnosed as typhoid initially, the sickness degenerated to the extent that she was bedridden for months. My mum had to stay with her and take care of her. We did all we could to save her life but our efforts proved abortive. She died five months later.

We rally round my mother to console her. She was heartbroken. I hid my pain in order to support her healing from the rude shock. She returned to her place of residence and we continued consoling her through frequent phone calls and visits.

We were making progress in coping with life without my lovely sister when another tragedy struck.

I was at work in March 2022 when my elder brother called me to tell me that my younger brother had died in a traffic accident in another faraway State. My elder brother immediately set out to go to the state where the incident happened while I headed home to meet my mother. The plan was for me to be with her before telling her about the incident.

I embarked on an eight hour journey to meet her that same day. With the support of other elders including her sister, we managed to tell her about the incident. It was a hard nut for her to crack. Losing two children within ten months.

My mum became a shadow of her former self. She refused to eat food for days. I tried all I could to make her eat, all to no avail. When I forced her too much, she would flare at me that I should leave her to starve if that would be the easiest way to join his deceased children. Other people around kept pleading with her to bear the loss for the sake of the three of us remaining.

The situation with her wasn't improving. My mother was only with us in body but not in spirit. I had to call my organization and seek additional days of emergency leave of absence.

My mother lost concentration in anything. The only topic interesting to her was about death. She was tired of living with the heartbreak. I realized that depression had set in. I was advised to be giving her close monitoring. Her elder sister was around too to give her invaluable support. We didn't relent in our effort to convince her that it was an act of God which we didn't have power to change. We cleared every access to the pictures of the deceased. Sighting their pictures by my mother was triggering her to sob more. Religious leaders were also on ground to console her from a religious perspective.

The support around her was huge. She started taking tea and some light food. At the point of my leaving, my younger sister remained with her. She was giving me an hourly, daily and weekly report on the improvement of her healing.

She was pulled out of the depressed state. Her sudden love for topics revolving around death waned.

Each time I talk to her on the phone, I give her reasons to thank God for life. I make sure that I don't tell her anything negative. I hide my pain whenever I am talking to her. Any small progress that I make, I announce it to her to gear her up and be happy with life once again.

I am glad that she is doing fine today. Though she hasn't been able to recover fully, we have made a lot of progress and the journey is continuous.

I could hear my mum laughing on the phone recently, something that she didn't do in the past two years.

My hope is to continue to give her the needed support to see her recover fully.