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him to get out and carve a life for himself. The pain and<br />
disappointment Patrick went through cannot be described on<br />
these pages. Here was a young man watching his future and<br />
dreams crumble at his feet because he was in love with a<br />
forbidden woman. His future and career were at stake. His life<br />
was in danger because of our relationship. The antagonistic<br />
swords came out full swing, ready to rip us apart. The weeks that<br />
followed this incident were like a hurricane that hit our lives<br />
with great might.<br />
As the threats and accusations tore through our emotions,<br />
Patrick was faced with a very difficult decision. He had to choose<br />
between staying with me and risking banishment or considering<br />
his comfort and leaving me. I am not a man; therefore, I cannot<br />
fully appreciate what he had to deal with emotionally, but I can<br />
only imagine the pain, confusion and distress Patrick underwent<br />
on account of me. He had grown up in these luxuries of a<br />
wealthy and influential family. Was he ready to live like a pauper<br />
13 and destitute because of me? Would he readily pay this<br />
enormous price for me? He saw my anxious countenance and<br />
even though he needed more encouragement than I did, he<br />
reached out and comforted me. Patrick reassured me that he<br />
was determined to keep me as the mother of his children and<br />
that no one was going to convince him otherwise.<br />
These were very difficult days in my life. There were many<br />
nights I sat up awake, unable to sleep. How could one be<br />
segregated against on account of their tribe and ethnicity? Did<br />
they choose to be a Hutu or Tutsi? I had frequent bouts of<br />
anxiety attacks sometimes, wondering what the future held. I<br />
kept wondering why a family would incessantly sow seeds of<br />
discord among itself rather than foster love and brotherhood.<br />
Even if Patrick had committed a grave sin by choosing to love<br />
me, was that the best way to treat him? He was their own flesh<br />
and blood and they chose to alienate him because of racial<br />
prejudice. How malignant human nature can be! Jeremiah 17:9<br />
says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately<br />
wicked: who can know it?” As I pondered over what was<br />
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