Death of a-100-year old, inspiring Englishman

Last week,  British veteran soldier, Sir Captain Tom Moore (pictured) passed away aged 100. The quantity of greetings, salutations, comments and praises that have been pouring to celebrate this wonderful Mzee is amazing. An African proverb from the Tswana folks  reminds: “The young bird does not crow until it hears  the old ones.”
Hey, what is bigger than experience?  Even scriptures agree.
“The glory of young men is their strength , grey hair the splendour of the old.” (Proverbs 20 : 18) Splendour means beauty, nobility and magnificence.
Yes. Old , Captain  Sir Tom Moore , exhibited splendour.
But not all have reacted well to this exemplary individual. A black gay pastor had to delete his Twitter comment where he is alleged to have said that the nationwide clap for the centenary hero “was informed by the cult of white British Nationalism.”
 There is more. I was in a bus and heard a fellow black man declaring this “white man is not my hero. He fought a white man’s war in Burma back in the days when colonialists ruled us...now he walks in his garden to raise money and he dies at 100, so what?”
I have been pondering on the reactions of my two brothers. Yes colonialism is an unresolved historical crime.
A heartless system that destroyed lands and ravaged generations. To this day scars still wail.
 But, then? Very  few nations have not been bullied or brutalised by others. The British were once ruled by the Vikings, Anglo Saxons and Romans. Of course that does not justify colonial rule in Africa....
Still. I was looking at statistics of animals that murder the most. Top of the menu are mosquitoes.  One million human deaths, per year. Second is us humans,  475,000 ( half a million approximately) homicides, annually. Third are snakes at 50,000 …
...so we, humans are barbaric creatures. We have ( and continue to ) caused wars and untold misery to each other. Meanwhile, are words like boldness, resilience, bravery, gratitude, based on race? Do you see a hard-working guy and question their tribe , gender, skin colour?
Hardly.
In early 2020, this  99 year old man decided to display gratitude. Back then Captain Tom Moore was not a celebrity. He had been ill in hospital and after recuperating, wanted to show appreciation  to the medics that had treated him, so well. The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK is among the best in the world.  A few years ago,  I had a small surgery, that took a few hours. The group of nurses and doctors that looked after me, before and after; consisted of European, Asian, Africans. No hint of prejudice.
Having recovered, I sat on the piano, composed a brief tune, which I posted on Instagram. That is why I understood the emotions going through Sir Captain Tom Moore.
But he did not just play the piano.
His recovery coincided with the upsurge of  Covid-19. Based in his garden and  using his special  Zimmer crutches ( as he could barely walk), Captain Moore did a hundred  laps aiming to raise £1,000 for NHS.  His efforts were immediately picked up ,nationwide,  and  he got over 32 million pounds ( Almost 102 Billion shillings) for the NHS.
Many other things happened including participation to record the song “You Will Never Walk Alone”  jointly with a NHS Choir  and Michael Ball, well known singer, actor and broadcaster. The inspiring lyrics go:
“When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark
at the end of the storm
There is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.”
Larks,  are small birds with lovely, melodious chirps.
The line “ sweet silver song of a lark” is about hope, recovery and optimism.
Ex -second world war veteran Tom Moore’s last years can be a measure of what we want from life. He was for a start a  good family man. A wonderful granddad , according to his two grown up grandsons, Tom and Max.
Secondly, having being a brave soldier in Burma he never gave up on life and reminds us of being cheerful and hard-working during difficult times.  No wonder he was knighted by the Queen.
As the human race battles many ills including the ongoing Covid-19, it is apt to hear and accompany stories of bravery and optimism.
Sincere people who have overcome problems (and lived on) without giving up are significant to our lives regardless of their origin. We have Nelson Mandela who suffered and lived to his 90s. Or still with us dear ex President Ali Mwinyi, endeared and loved for his modesty and the Mzee Ruksa tag. These individuals are not just symbolic but ESSENTIAL for our survival in our huge, demanding universe.