Tribute : 21st December 1936- 14th January 2021 – The minutes, hours and days have flown past, and weeks have jostled with the months so vigorously, that it is already six months, yes, six good months, since the fateful day when news spread like wildfire, throughout the four corners of the world, announcing that Mr. T.G.G Senghore had been recalled from this world by his Maker.
Yes, Thomas Gregory George Senghore, commonly known as Uncle Tom, Papa Tom, T.G.G, or more fondly as Thos, had reached the finishing line of the Race to Eternity. You had fought the good fight, and now God was calling you to Himself to reward you, after more than three years of pain and anguish on a sick bed, faraway from your homeland which you loved and cherished above all other countries, developing and developed alike. Your illness was a Divine Test which you passed with flying colours. Never wavering in your belief in God, you took joy in listening to recorded Mass Services and to your precious Gregorian Hymns / Chants which always brought a sparkle to your eyes and peace on your countenance. Your strong Faith, overriding and numbing your immense physical and emotional pain, was something no medication - in any form - was able to do.
Thos, it broke our hearts to lose you too, after losing my sister, Aunty Joko Senghore, your wife, just eight years earlier. Though we grieve for you, we also rejoice that you are now united in Heaven with her. This is the wife you had loved so dearly that you chose to die in the same month of January, as she did, just eleven days before her eighth year anniversary. Rest eternal both of you. If there were stairs to Heaven, we would have taken them, four steps at a time, to bring you both back. But though words cannot describe how profoundly you are loved, we know God would not let go of you, because he loves you both best. But in our hearts you will always repose; and your memories we will always cherish. You shall always be alive in our minds and our lips shall never cease to speak of your laudable deeds, and the legacy you have left behind, worthy of emulation for generations to come.
The numerous Tributes, the Prayers and the Masses said in your honour, locally and abroad, in the Media, vocalized, printed, online and virtual, had said it all. An enormous tree of sustenance had fallen. A famous noble man had been lost. Famous, indeed, because of his acute Intelligence and Eloquence, his formidable and versatile Knowledge of History, his love of God and all of Humanity, his devotion to Church, his love of Country and dedication to Service; but above all, his Generosity and Modesty, surpassed only by his profound Humility. ‘Thank you’ was no longer enough to express the gratitude of all whose life you had touched. People, at your death, revealed the depth of your generosity, then unknown, even to your own family, because it was always wrapped in anonymity.
Thos, by your deeds on earth, you shall be associated with those who have washed their clothes white in the Blood of Christ, and thus be numbered amongst the virtuous in Heaven. Whatever you did for your ‘’neighbours’’ on earth, you did not for the world to thank you, but because of your belief that God who sees everything done in secret will reward you. So now you await the Crown of Uprightness which The Lord, The Upright Judge, will surely give you on the Last Day, as he promised to all, like you, that believe and trust in Him.
Continue, Thomas Gregory George Senghore, to sleep and rest, my dear Brother-in law, with the Unfailing Armsof God around you. You had always been to me the elder Brother I did not have, a Friend, a Confidant, a Mentor. Thank you for been always there for me in these various capacities, in times of joy and sorrows. Six months after your departure, I put aside the black clothes, my outward sign of mourning your loss. But inwardly, my heart still continues to weep for an irreplaceable Brother and Mentor, that is no more. Thank you also for being there for all Gambians, irrespectively of Age, Sex, Wealth, or Creed. We praise you among the Wise, and Brave, and Strong, who graced our generation. You definitely always rose to the occasion to help the Right and fight the Wrong; and helped to make the Gambian folk a Nation. Many have testified to this.
T.G.G., may The Kingdom of God be yours, and may your reward be great in Heaven. Amen. Alas, I wish I was versed in Laitin to end this Tribute in style, in the scholastic Language you loved dearly and spoked so eloquently. A Language which served as your Signature Tune in all the learned Epistles you, ever wrote. But since I am not, let it be suffice for me to say “Dominus Vobiscum”to all you have left behind. And to you, my Confidant and Friend, Thos, “Requiscat in Pace”.
Elizabeth Yamide Renner
(Toubab)
