Very sad and shocking indeed. I still can't believe it The spooky thing about this for me is that the night before his passing I had a dream where I was taking pictures with, for some weird reason, some old NBA players..
Then while driving to work in morning US time 9afternoon Malawi time), I remembered about the dream. It brought back memories of my basketball days in Malawi, especially when James and I revived the Lilongwe Pacers basketball team. That made me notice that it had been months since I last talked to James. So I said to myself that as soon as I got to work, I would call James just to touch base and catch up on developments. I got to work, did a few things. I went to drop something in the break room. I went back to my desk where I was planning to call James. As soon as I arrived at my desk, I got an message alert on my mobile phone. Unbelievably the message read "James Gwaza died". I broke down, I was hysterical. My workmates came around to ask me what had happened. I failed to put together words for a while. It dawned on me that the time I was driving to work and thinking of calling James was around the time when James was departing. He must have been telepathically saying (like he always did) "Champ, I am checking out". When I calmed down, I called Kingsley Gwaza who he told me that James had been sick but to me it came as a big shock 'coz I had not heard that he was sick. That what I get for not keeping in touch with a good friend for several months; heart wrenching shock. I will miss James. James was a great friend. We had a lot of fun. James was one of those guys that you will have to look under boulders to find if there is any fleck of a human being that would claim to be his enemy. As one of the main organizers of my wedding in 2005, he made it a success and a memorable wedding. A wonderful basketball opponent while he was at the Polytechnic and later teammate (Lilongwe Pacers). He was very helpful and full of energy. Too young to leave us! It pains to know that when we talked last, it was the last time I would ever talk to him. In our last conversation he was talking about a promising business venture in 2009-10. I am sure given the resources; he would have made the venture a success. James will be missed indeed. I am pretty sure when we meet again you will welcome us by saying "Unaona bwanji Champ pamene paja? I left the same year as Bernie Mac, Mwanawasa, Bobby Fischer, Tim Russert, and Isaac Hayes". Vintage James Gwaza. My heartfelt condolences to his immediate family, extended family, friends and all sports enthusiasts in Malawi especially in basketball. You will be missed brother. We know you have a better view of us right now but we will miss your physical presence Angoni. Rest in God's peace brother. Rest in peace. Rest in peace "Champ" / "007" / "Ntonongoli" / "Chicken Gwaza". Rest in peace. I am glad to have been part of your life James Brown Gwaza. Farewell Champ, Farewell. Champ Nyex On Fri, Sep 19, 2008 at 4:18 AM, Daud Suleman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Morning > > > It is with sadness that i write to inform you of the loss of a valuable > person in the local basketball scene, Mr James Brown Gwaza who passed away > yesterday afternoon in Blantyre. > > James served in many roles including that of Secretary General of BASMAL as > well as OCGAM, now MOC. He had been an influential and inspirational figure > to a lot of us. > > Burial will take in Ntcheu tomorrow and will update you whn we get the > details. > > Our condolences to Kingsley and the family, may his soul rest in peace. > > Thank you > > Daud. > > -- > LifeAsItComes..OneDayAtATime! > > > > -- Hastings Fukula Nyekanyeka [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.malawithewarmheart.com/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ http://soyapi.com/owinna/cezobal2008 =================================== You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Central Zone Basketball League" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cezobal?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
