Adeola aderounmu.

The value of true friendship is inestimable.

I decided to write this, like many other stuffs I have written over the last 3 decades because if we don’t write our stories, someone else will do, and the distortions will not only be unimaginable, but also irreparable.

When I travelled to New Jersey with my family in May 2024, there were 3 friends already on the alert and holding brief on my behalf in different American states. Dele had travelled a day before our arrival from Houston to NJ. He had teamed up with Raphael. They were looking at the clock. Adeola is coming. Morrison was driving down from Maryland heading to Trenton.

My reason for travelling to America was to attend the graduation ceremony of my daughter. She graduated in May 2024 from Lawrenceville School, near Princeton. Prior to this event, there had been no other factor strong enough to convince me to travel to the US.

But here I was at Newark Airport, sitting comfortably in an American Ford we hired from Avis, heading to our first destination in Trenton. I would become bold to drive on American roads and adapt to some crazy driving, in a massive vehicle, for the next 10 days.

Dele and Raphael arrived at out Trenton residence about 7pm and guess what they brought with them. Made in New Jersey Nigerian jollof rice with Nigerian spiced meat. We were in the middle of the jollification when Mo arrived, and the amount of bottled water we stored away in the fridge increased exponentially.

Dele, Raphael, and I attended Festac Grammar School and graduated in 1989. Mo lived in the same building as me in Festac and he was not just another guy on the block, he also became my student. I will be unable, in a single essay, to describe my full connections to these guys. I mean, I knew Raphael before we became schoolmates. I first met him on the football field before we became teenagers. I knew he was good with his feet. Dele and I were just more of pals (old schoolmates) until he visited me in Sweden. I don’t know how to stop Dele from (telling) that I invited him to Sweden and paved the way for his eventual sojourn. Mo also visited me in Sweden, of his own accord, and he was my number one dependable ally in Nigeria before he settled in the US.

Dele won my heart on my visit to NJ for leaving his job, his wife and children back in Houston for a few days to enjoy our company in New Jersey. He attended the graduation ceremony on Saturday before he flew back to Houston. Morrison also attended the ceremony before he drove back to Maryland to prepare for our tour of Maryland and Washington DC. In Maryland, Mo gave us roof over our heads for as long as we wanted to stay. He even organized a welcome party for us, and the attendance was massive. The best part was seeing his dad, brother, wife and children. We re-invented Festac in Maryland. We were home away from home. I thought I would see Raphael again when he came to Maryland, but we were all so busy that our journeys at that point did not intercept.

Nevertheless, it was a good reunion not just for me and my friends but also for Mo who hadn’t seen Eniola since she was two and now to watch her graduate. Dele had not seen her since she was about 8, and to see her graduate too. They also get to see her mum and the little sister who is not little anymore. Raphael met all the 3 of them for the first time. I was uniting everyone and creating new bonds for Houston, Maryland and New Jersey.

I must mention that we stopped briefly at a major center on our way to Maryland. One of my former students came to say hello briefly even at a very short notice. I got to know that we drove through Delaware, thanks for her. It was also nice to see her husband. Two jolly, nice, amiable down-to-earth couples they are.

The value of true friendship is inestimable.

My American Diary, to be continued.

Appreciation.

Thank you Dele for your effort and for the gift of love and friendship.

Thank you Raphael for receiving Dele and for your good intentions..

Thank you Mo for also taking time off your schedule to show us Washington DC.

Thank you to Mo’s friends and family,

Thank you the Adenegans for driving from Delaware to meet us halfway on the way to Maryland. My dear Pinky!

I am indebted to Uncle Gbaike for receiving us in New York.

To my family, without you, I have not, these memories to share.