THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE ON EARTH.

MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY By John Ggayi Bugembe MY BIRTH AND FAMILY SETTING I come from a family that had many siblings. Our first born is a lady who was our father’s only child with her mother. I am told my father separated from that lady quite early. Then, my father married another lady, this time in church. With this lady, they produced 8 children - two girls and 6 boys. After they produced the first four, my father, then, met my mother, as a young girl who was still at school. They fell in love and I then came into the world. My mother’s parents (that is my maternal grandparents) got so annoyed. This was their first born child, she was beautiful, she was doing well at school, and she was very promising. To make matters worse, my grandfather was a trained teacher. He was one of those first students in what was then called Makerere Normal School which later, became Makerere University. So my grandfather, on maternal side, was one of the elites of the time but here was his daughter terminating her studies because of a pregnancy. I am told that my grandfather got so furious that he wanted to take my father to prison but he later forgave him. One year after my birth, one of my mother’s uncles, decided to take her back to school. This uncle of her’s loved her so much that he took her to his home so she could continue with her studies. My father could not take me to his home when I was a baby because my birth had antagonised his official wife. Again my maternal grandparents were not in mood to have me in their home. My father took me to his eldest sister who was living in a village near Mpigi town. That is where I spent my first years of child hood. I thank the lord for that aunt of mine for raising me very well in those early years. She ensured that I ate well and went to school all the time. She also ensured I attended Sunday School even though she sometimes failed to attend church herself. Unfortunately, she died when I was in secondary school but she loved me so much and I loved her so much. Her Christian name was Ezereth. I gave this name to my daughter in memory of that aunt of mine. At about five years, I got to know who my mother was. She would visit me once in a while and bring me goodies. I also got to know who my father was. He would visit me once in a while and bring me some goodies too.