It's 4:00 am in the morning 11th July 1994, in a small referral hospital in the plains of Laikipia. It's dark, so dark in this part of the world at this time of the night. only the earliest birds are chirping, it's a song celebration. A celebration of a coming dawn, a bright sun to be born in the morning. The birds stop singing. The small referral hospital in the plains of Laikipia come to a stand-still as a woman screams, all the doctors and nurses on duty gather around. It's the beginning of a dawn, it's the beginning of a story.
   
Not long before this day was the real beginning of the story that is me. ok let me begin from the veeery beginning.
        It's a chilly evening sometimes in October 1993, Munene as I later learnt my dad would be called comes home from his daily routine, he has a small family (judging from a 90s standards of typical family) of four kids, three boys and one girl. He also has a lovely wife, she's called Glad (real name by the way) well she's my mom. I can't write much about what happened on this night given I was only a sperm but I wanted to stress on something_  ok, out of a few millions of us I won. it's like running a marathon and winning gold, then doing an an ad like ; Hi, my name is Maina Munene and I won my first race in 1993, I have been winning since. A few months later am growing in Glad's womb, she has a baby growing in her and I am that baby. Mama has been taking care of me since then, how cool is that?
      All this time Glad was pregnant with me she thought I was a girl, it's only fair given that they had three boys and only one girl. That is where the problem begins, I think she even had a girl name for me though I've never asked her. I think it's the reason I sometimes act girlish it's not my fault, ask mama. I think if I was a girl she would have called me Celestine or some other funny English female name, imagine having a nickname for Celestine? it would be cele which sounds like silly. There was nothing like screening in 93 so the only way to know a child's sex was at birth.
     
Back to where the story began............

  It's a fight,( heroes are not born without a fight) , Glad is a strong woman and so she pushes. I help her out by pushing myself out, it's been nine months and I can't wait to see the world. I can't wait to see mama, I've only heard her talk for those nine months I was inside her, it's time. It's morning already as its no longer dark, the birds are now on my case and can't stop celebrating. It's a grand welcome to earth. It's a boy.! the doctor announces, Mama doesn't know whether to celebrate or slap me for coming out a boy. I look at her with my tiny eyes and she's beautiful, I cry not because I want to but because it's the only thing I know in this world. Mama finally holds me, tears flowing down her cheeks, they are tears of joy. Papa is outside the hospital (in the 90s it was a taboo for a man to be in the Labour ward)  he has been up the whole night waiting for me and mama. He is the best dad in the world though he would later beat the hell out of me when I was older for straying.
         The doctor opens his file and_ mama said , " Let's call him RICHARD".
"RICHARD who?
"MAINA "
" MUNENE " dad added lifting me up with his giant hands.
When the doctor wrote my name, I cried for the pen. I wanted the pen and he gave it to me. My name was the only thing the good doctor was supposed to write about me. I WANTED TO WRITE MY OWN STORY MY OWN WAY AND SO I PICKED THE PEN.

     and the story began,

       Twenty plus two years on......
Thanks Mama, for being the best. I love you.


It feels like a million years though......
#HappyBirthdayMaina
#ItsMyBirthday
#JulyBabies
#ThanksMom
#ILoveYouMama
#Heartfelt
#PenOnPaper
#StoryOfMyLife
#1994
#OneMillionHashtags
#FuckOfItsMyBirthday