Give Them Roses While They Can Smell Them

We hadn't had power for days, and I just lay in bed that morning, playing music on my phone with the little that was left of the battery. I've got playlists for the songs I want to listen to for each time I crave music, but this time was going to be different. I had over a thousand songs in my library and I was sure I had never heard quite a number of them. So I decided to let the player randomly play songs for a change, and you know what? It was one of the best decisions I had taken in a while. I'll tell you why.

“I believe that, in life, you're nothing without good people...” this unfamiliar track began. It must be one of these voice notes sent to one of the numerous groups I belonged to on WhatsApp, I thought. But why did this voice sound so familiar? It wasn't long after that I realised that this little speech was merely in an intro to what would become one of my favourite songs ever. Why does everything Cobhams Asuquo release resonate very specially with me? Yes, it was Cobhams' song - Angels All Around. I confirmed later, as I earlier suspected, that it was indeed sent to a group on WhatsApp.

There are angels all around

They are wherever you find me

So be still; don't make a sound

There are angels all around

They are watching over me

Over mountains, oceans; land and sea

So be still don't make a sound

There are angels all around.

Those were the lyrics to the song that so made my morning, and many mornings after... today's inclusive, and I strongly recommend it for everyone who appreciates great music.

But the thing about the song that's necessitating this write-up is the fact that Cobhams - as he sang about angels - wasn't necessarily referring to “a winged creature, or a creature out of a story book,” he was singing about the good people in his life who he was grateful for, who had held his hand - literally (he's visually impaired) and figuratively - at some point in his life, and had helped him move forward from one level to the next. He made this clear in the introductory speech I wrote about earlier.

I found myself completely enthralled while I listened in total admiration to the genuineness of both Cobhams' voice and his words as the song progressed, and, much later in the track, there was an interlude. Another speech of his was beautifully laced over his soft and delicate whistling of the song's melody. This time, he made reference to an old quote he heard long ago - “give them roses while they can smell them” - and explained how it meant appreciating the people in our lives who have helped us while they're still with us. He went ahead to recognise all such people in his life - particularly his mother - and not long after, this masterpiece of a song came to a solemn end. Of course, after that first listen, it was on replay till my battery gave up.

The song and it's lyrics struck a chord with me, because I think - in that very moment - that I understood exactly what he was talking about. It's something I've been very vocal about for quite some time, and maybe that's because life has consistently gone out if it's way to make sure it's a lesson I learn. And believe me when I say I've learnt to be a good student.

We've all got special people in our lives - parents, siblings, significant others, friends, colleagues, and sometimes even people we might regard as complete strangers - who have been placed around us for reasons. Reasons we don't need to struggle to see. These people have been there at one point or another to be backbones, shoulders to lean and cry... and sometimes even stand on. They're the kind and gracious ones who go out of their way to keep us encouraged and motivated when we're feeling down and depressed... even when that might mean sacrificing their own happiness for ours.

It's rather sad that we often take it for granted that we've got these people in our lives. And, somehow, it almost seems excusable, but it isn't. It never will be. We get so accustomed to parental love and care from infancy that we forget sometimes that there are people who have grown up never knowing what it's like to have parents at all or to experience such love. We tend to unknowingly make light of the many sacrifices our parents and families make for us daily - and I'm not even talking about the ones that go beyond the extra mile like it's just a walk in the park - just because we've become so accustomed.

We've got friends who make the effort to be there when there's really no one else to turn to for that hug that only someone who truly understands can offer. Of course, we're thankful for these people when we discover them, or they us, but time passes - months, years - and maybe more friends come along when the going is great once more, and then we just stop being as appreciative as we ought to be.

The hard truth is that we won't have these angels with us forever, so let's not wait till they can't smell roses anymore before we offer them. We don't have to wait for their birthdays to go on social media and eulogise them, and we surely mustn't wait till we're able to buy them all the really expensive things we genuinely want to get them so they know we're thankful. This life is way too temporal and fleeting to have such illusions of the luxury of time. 

Let's seize every moment we've got with these people who have made our lives so beautiful to let them know we're grateful. That's definitely one way to show gratitude to God for blessing us with them. A simple and sincere "thank you" every now and then does wonders. A call or text when they least expect it just to say we're thinking of them. A hug when we can't see those reassuring smiles we've known to never leave their faces. Listening ears when we sense they just need someone to talk to. The very shoulders that once had to lean on theirs in times of weakness. The humblest of loving gestures really. 

Life has taught me over time that it's the small and simple things that matter the most. It is popularly said that all great things start small, and it's no different with appreciation.

Let's offer those roses today!