Nigeria’s former beauty queen, Helen Press-Ajayi today, remembers her husband as she celebrates her 61st birthday.
Since their marriage 25 years ago, Helen Prest says she has not celebrated her birthday without her late husband, Dr Tosin Ajayi.
It is therefore not unexpected that she spent the day going over their life together.
The former Miss Nigeria, Lawyer and author described her late husband as the “real man in every sense of the word.”
According to her, more than anything else, she would have loved to still have him around especially on a day like this. This more so because of the pleasant surprise gifts he showers her with. Even when she forgets her birthdays, he would remember and make it memorable still.
Helen Prest-Ajayi therefore counselled everyone to always cherish the times spent with every living loved ones irrespective of how annoying they may be.
He post today:
“I woke up this morning and realised that this is the first birthday I will spend without my husband in 25 years.
“His quiet demeanor and unassuming look outwardly belied the fact that he was e-x-t-r-a as my daughters would say. He did everything with passion and then some.
“His motto was “What is worth doing, is worth doing to EXCESS!” My husband was a REAL MAN, in every sense of the word. Full of testosterone in everything he did. Everything was big and bold, but very loving.
“My birthdays were always full of surprises. Partly because I would never remember (like today, I just remebered) and partly because of the gifts he would buy.
“For years he would always buy me a Hermès bag, a most expensive one, but not a popular recognisable one with their logo, so you wouldn’t know. I would be happy when I saw the orange box , then slightly (ever so slightly) peeved that it wasn’t one of the popular ones .
“When I would point it out to him. He would say” but this one is far more expensive” and show me the receipt, then end the conversation saying nonchalantly. “What does it matter? What is most important is that YOU know.”
“Gadgets were another popular choice (very manly), I possess every type of electronic gadget on the planet. Especially phones. The other day I asked the price of an HTC phone one of his favourite gifts to me.When they told me I almost passed out, “Whaaaat!!!”
“I had always assumed they were a couple of hundred £’s maybe three at the most. That’s the value I ascribed to a phone in my mind, but over £1000 for a phone? I’ve been going through quite a few surprises like that lately.
“I’m thinking how I would gladly love to have him celebrate with me today and to receive any one of any type of present from him. I am writing this to remind everyone to cherish every moment you have with your loved one, even the annoying ones.
“Remember everything is done in love, it may be deep deep down, and you may not understand it in the moment, but it truly is.
Whenever we quarrelled he would always end it with ” Helen I love you, I will always love you, I’m with you, that’s all that matters. It takes death to realise that truly that’s all that matters.”
Helen Prest-Ajayi was Miss Nigeria at the age of 19 in 1979.
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Helen Prest-Ajayi