Ellis is a skilled chameleon with many “technicolors”. He has talents that can make him thrive in any environment. He is unassuming, compassionate, focused, extremely cautious, and with endless adjectives to describe him. Will I say he is intelligent? He is smart! That makes him almost superhuman. My first encounter with Ellis was at 37Military Hospital, where we had our sixth form national service in 1985. It was the first time I had interacted with a person from a school totally unknown to me, for which I questioned him severally from different angles to establish the truth behind his assertion that he had attended St. Martins at Adoagyiri. Our time at 37 knew no bounds and formed the period that most of our sensible and sensitive relationships were formed. I hardly questioned or paid attention to other people’s issues, even though I am an open book, so despite hanging out with Ellis almost every day before university in KNUST, I least expected to bump into him on my first day on campus. He never mentioned that he was joining me at KNUST. We both ended up in Katanga — the hall where fellows charge. To my amazement, Ellis made my stay in Kumasi feel like home. He had lived on campus through his formative years with parents and family, so he knew every corner. I lived my life on campus through the eyes of Ellis, and to date I only see Kumasi as far as Ellis exposed me to. In short, I wasn’t adventurous. I wonder what campus life would have turned out to be without Ellis. I can recount moments he was a father, mother, brother, sister… and, in fact, everything other than a lover, as in those days LGBTQAI was no fashion and an abomination to mankind. We literally shared a single bed in the first year but, subsequently, by some twist of fate, we had single rooms of our own for the rest of our student lives from 2nd year — even when I had deferred my course. His culinary skill to date is next to none, such that no lady invited us to dine with them in their halls. Rather, they trooped to our room one after the other to sample Ellis’ delicacies — except that cabbage stew in first year that got us into trouble. One will not escape Ellis’ comical skill to have a few laughs interspersed before, during, and after meals, with me foolishly backing or joining the fray. We had several escapades with Raymond Quaye, currently in the USA, Woyat, and his big brother Jesse, both of blessed memory — with the latter, whom I also questioned daily if he was truly his brother, because he appeared more sensible in his resolve than him at the time. Today, I’d say they are a chip off the same block with the same attributes but different approaches to life. Ellis made me realise I had a myopic perspective and understanding of life and my surroundings. A deep thinker with a 360-degree view of every move, I wasn’t surprised when I later found out he is a great chess player and an avid swimmer. Another hidden talent — his dance skills and originality. He introduced “the iron rods” dance moves. To be honest, except for the iron rod dance, Ellis couldn’t, at the time, dance to save his own life. It was easy to set me up, and he succeeded many times with our great colony of diverse friends in gender, age, ethnicity, profession, etc. Picking on a particular incident will be unfair to other incidents that occurred of like significance. You may just think of, or stretch your imagination to, the good, bad, and ugly — we lived it all. With relationships and interrelationships, I’d say Ellis carries on as I move away, and where he drops off, I pick up and bring back to the flock. Because it is his day, I have shied away from clustering the presentation with names, but have rather kept it within the boundaries of my observations of him and his impact on me. Our journey in the University Hall Annex of KNUST, Katanga to be precise, ended when he finished a year ahead of me to move to the UK in 1990 to seek greener pastures. I joined him immediately after school, but he returned shortly to Ghana — obviously after a few escapades together in South London — before he was recruited to be part of the first “Zoomlion” in Ghana: Chelsea Waste Management. A blueprint I am certain is being used by our government to this day without modification. Ellis, your fixation on the Vauxhall Frontera knew no bounds, but thank God for newer makes and models. There was never a call between us without enquiring about the vehicle which never was. It was during this grim moment of disappointment or adversity that saw the birth of his lifetime passion and interest, from his biological sciences days, in copulation and reproduction with ProVita Hospital. He came through London en route to his training in Germany. I never understood a thing he explained to me in his new line of business. By the time I returned from the UK in 1994, Ellis had become an in vitro fertilisation celebrity and has never turned back since, chalking many accolades. I have an electrical engineering friend who thinks wires — and when I say wires, you can just imagine his brain and how they are wired. In similar format, Ellis thinks fertilisation — fertility. He is always seeking God’s guidance and thoughts of ways to overcome the unfortunate challenges in reproductive health. His drive and success stem from his ability to thrive in God first, and not being reckless but cautious in everything. I have been pretty much part of Ellis’ journey of life with friends and family, and I can say without equivocation that for 60 years and counting, it has been a real diamond journey as I look forward to the centenary celebration. Happy Birthday, my big brother from a different mother, roommate, and friend. Wait for me on the 60th floor. You’ve made it in “technicolors”. General “OB” Burgess 46 The Birthday Journal C O U R AG E O U S
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