We meet to part, and we part to meet

Fungai Muderere in Filabusi

IT is a farewell filled with tears, memories and the haunting reality that some journeys end far too soon when Highlanders family and the Filabusi community gather today to bury their own.

Among the six people who perished in last Sunday’s horrific road accident on their way home in Filabusi were Highlanders supporters, whose lives were tragically cut short while returning from what should have been an ordinary journey home.

Today, that journey reaches its final destination.

Instead of welcoming them back home, families, friends and fellow Bosso followers gather to escort them to their final resting places in a joint burial, united in grief just as they were united in their love for Highlanders.

The words “we meet to part, and we part to meet” are carring a painfully different meaning as mourners say their final goodbyes.

For the Highlanders family, still struggling to come to terms with a year marked by devastating loss, the latest tragedy is another cruel reminder of how fragile life can be.

The black clothes, the lowered voices and the tears tell a story that words can hardly capture.

These were not merely football supporters. They were brothers, relatives, friends, neighbours and members of a community whose lives touched many others.

Their passion for Highlanders brought them together in the stands, on the terraces and in conversations about the club they loved.

Today, that same love has brought people together one more time, not to celebrate a victory, but to mourn lives lost together.

As the coffins were lowered into the earth, Filabusi will fell silent.

And Highlanders will mourn with it.

We meet to part, and we part to meet.

Today, however, there was no easy goodbye.

@FungaiMuderere