#MoMoBalo 💜💜💜

It started with a couple texts back and forth in the first quarter of 2019. She was inviting me to a recording for DDK for Immerse coaching and I didn’t even know she was Mo. I just knew it was someone from DDK’s team. Somehow, we never did find a convenient date for the recording till June.

In between those, I learned she had a training for executive assistants and then I sent Tolu to attend, really just to support her. We had still never met but she came back with her gratitude and everything. 

I just loved Mo, especially because she was DDK’s EA/PA. 

Come June finally, and then we meet for the first time and just hit it off. She gives the BEST hugs and yawl KNOW I am here for EVERYDAY TIGHT HUGS. And because she is about my height, I enjoyed hugging her.

After the recording, she said she would like to see me, so I naturally thought she wanted me to be a guest on her podcast. A few days after, she texts me and then calls the next day and we have this longggggg deep conversation that leaves both of us in tears and laughter in equal doses. Mo speaks the language of my emotions… we are not afraid to show the tears or the laughter so we connected DEEPLY over that phone call and subsequently, though not very frequently over whatsapp.

Then after a while, I started to sense that this girl needed to be in my life a little closer. In fact, I recall telling Funto that I feel like Mo is a future (best) friend, but I also wanted to check her out before making my moves lol, so I call her up random and I am like ‘Hey Mo, lets hang out’. She is shocked, like why? Lol. I say Nothing ooo, just to get to know you better. And she was like oh she was scared that maybe something happened. We pick a date, I cancel, we pick another date, she cancels, and then we pick the third date and no one cancels. Lol

It was Sat Oct 19 at Maryland Mall. She was coming from her Saturday Branding class at The Orange Academy or so, so Maryland Mall was a good place for her. Somehow, even though the timing was off for me (5pm), I DESPERATELY wanted to make it.

Turns out we had this longggggg deeeeeeeeeep emotional conversation, again between tears and laughter. Like, we both have a deeeeep well of emotions. I think Mo is more EXTRA and emotional than me, but Funto says I am more. Oh wells.

We talked about so many things… especially about the things God was telling us. She had so many questions which I had no answers for so I told her to chase them down with Jesus and not be afraid of what she would discover on that quest. On a particular matter, I agreed to hold her accountable to be sure she would do it. Mo is really resourceful so I left that meeting with so many new Apps, podcasts and mentors to lean into based on the stuff I had shared with her. 

I enjoyed every second of our meeting and even lost track of time. We talked EVERYTHING. In my mind, I was like ‘Yes, we can definitely be future besties but let us start slow’.

She came with her boyfriend Bassey, who went downstairs to wait for us after the initial introduction.

Back downstairs at the car park, I told her how this whole meeting was really about me checking her out and she was like ‘did I pass did I pass did I pass?’ and I was like ‘Girl, if you didn’t pass, I would not have mentioned it’ and so in that car park, we committed to friendship.

Our messages became a little more regular, she would read my blog and give me feedback, most times in tears because of how it so resonated with her. Mo never held emotions back, at least with me. The last blog she commented on was the one I did on personal retreat as she wanted to go on one.

Then come Upstream and I asked everyone about Mo. She was absent, so I send her a message and she again is literally in tears as she tells me about work commitments that didn’t let her come and won’t let her come the next day too as they were planning a conference so they had series of important meetings.

I felt so bad for her cos I know she HATES to miss any DDK thing. 

She then says she gets a free day Monday the 9^th, so can she come to my house to spend the whole day? I am like sureeeeeee.

When she said a whole day retreat with me, in my mind I was like ‘Nope, you will spend the whole day with JESUS’. I planned to lock her in my kids’ room and I really looked forward to it.

That was Friday.

Come Tuesday morning, first I wake to a dream. In the dream, I saw a friend of mine who is also on my squad and there was an ‘issue’ with a female who looked like she was working for her. The dream was unclear so I go ask her if there is someone who works for her who has a problem. 

She doesn’t respond immediately so I go about my day. I particularly have a tosh load of laundry that Tuesday morning, so after washing, I came to pray. For some reason, all my prayer was about my friends. I have a list of 10friends on my task board who I am constantly praying for and also try to nourish, and I just felt like it was time to get Mo’s name on that list. I especially wanted her to replace a friend who our friendship dynamic had recently changed but I said I would replace after she comes on Monday. I also told God that I didn’t need any more close friends to be added to this list cos I don’t think I can handle it.

I also took time to reflect on my friends, and it dawned on me that I had been truly luckier than intentional. How I have friends who LOVE me is a mystery cos I truly hadn’t been as good as I ought to, at least based on what I knew. So right there and then, I made a commitment to Jesus that I would do better. I would love the friends He has mercifully given me how He wants me to love them, so far He shows me how.

I would make room for them. I would be more intentional. 

It was literally a pact between Jesus and me. I may have cried a few tears too. Then I prayed for all my friends.

I get up from my place of prayer, make a quick call for a 2020 project I am working on in my personal life, and then get on whatsapp.

That same friend I sent a message to earlier has Mo on her status with broken hearts and all. I am like ‘I don’t get. Why are you using broken heart for Mo.’ Death didn’t even cross my mind. 

I didn’t even wait for a response, I just call her. And she says Mo is dead.

So I am going through every description to be sure we are talking about the same person. Yes, same Mo!!!

Apparently, Mo had also been to her place recently to do some work on her family frames, which really was what my dream was about. Some female who worked for her having an issue.

I couldn’t believe it. 

Mo. Moradeun Balogun. The crazy human SO FULL OF LIFE it was DRIPPIN’

Haaaaa.

Just to be sure, I called FG who also works with DDK and she confirms it and tells me how it happened as she had just come from her house too. 

That was probably the end of my day. I really have never lost someone so close so I had never dealt with grief, neither has hubby seen me deal. Staying home wasn’t helping so I dragged myself to church with my journal. I just wanted to talk to Jesus. I didn’t think so much about HOW she died, which was frankly sad, or be like ‘Why Mo’?’ At all.

I thought more about my life and all our conversations. She had said a lot to me that looking back now, I believe that was her unknowingly getting ready to meet with Jesus.

I thought about my life again and the commitment I made that morning to Jesus. I thought about DEATH, not with fear, but with HOPE and how we MUST ALL be ready for it, whether at 30 or 100.

I thought about many things on this very temporary earth and once again, made another commitment to Jesus. This time, I called it THE MO’ CODE and I listed out what I would do privately to keep my memory of her going.

Yesterday at the celebration of her life, DDK said many things but the one thing that caught me was that Mo’s death has to cause us to go to Jesus and ask Him to show us how to make her death not be in vain in our own personal lives. I immediately connected to that because that is really what it means to keep a legacy. 

I am SO THANKFUL that God allowed me meet this firecracker crazy girl this side of heaven. I am really thankful that I pursued the friendship like I did, and that she also made room for me in her life. Such a short friendship but I actually have only gratitude. No regrets.

I do admit that there is a numb part of me though. I mean, we were to see in a couple days. We had like REAL plans then death so finally ends it. It is a bit hard talking about Mo in the past tense. That girl had ENERGY and LIFE sha. 

Like I said on the banner, at least we are sure the streets of heaven will be kept litter-free cos Mo was so anti-litter lol.

Your time on earth was short but your destination is too certain!!!

You went ahead girl. You went well. See you on the better side of eternity.

I love you so much, and hey, you BETTER be the loudest screamer in my own heavenly grandstand.

Till we meet,

Moradeun Balogun