Love During my fourth year of medical school, I was walking the streets of Accra, one day, eager to catch a bus back to school. As I walked, I thought of all the things that needed doing; I had to clean my room, wash my clothes and then finish my assignments. As I paused briefly to look absentmindedly at the teeming crowd around me, a familiar face flashed before my eyes. I did a double take and looked at her again. Yes. It was Tina, a beautiful girl, who was my junior at Swedru Secondary School. “Tina!”. I called, hoping that she would hear me, but she had already seen me, and was hurrying towards me with a shy smile, “Senior Fanta!” “Aaah, don’t call me senior, we are no longer in school,” I said, trying to make her feel comfortable around me. Soon, we were chatting about old times at school, and catching up on gossip. She was really attractive. I invited her to visit me at the medical school at KorleBu, but she was acting all coy, as if she wasn’t interested. Eventually she did visit me and later became my girlfriend. Tina helped me a lot, when I was in medical school, visiting with food and money as well. After medical school, I was posted to the Effia NkwantaHospital inTakoradi, whereTina also worked as a teacher; this really strengthened our relationship, ultimately leading to marriage. A year later, and I was pacing the corridors of thematernity clinic, at EffiaNkwantaHospital. Tina was in labor, and even though I was a doctor, I was sweating. This was going to be my first child. How I longed for a daughter. In my mind’s eye, I could see my little girl, with many ribbons of different colors in her hair. In those days there was no ultrasound, so we had to wait until the delivery to know the baby’s gender. Imagine my joy when the doctor came out and said, “Congratulations, Augustus! You have a beautiful baby girl.” There were tears of joy in my eyes as I rushed into the ward and held my baby in my arms, I knew that she had stolen my heart. 18 The Birthday Journal
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