26/08/2021
A beautifully written tribute for her best friend and soul mate.. This got me in tears. A tribute by Sharon Ignas for her late friend Jasmine Omena! 😢😭
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I first met Jaz in 2001, when we were both 9 years old, and starting off year 3 at Goroka International School. Her family had just moved back to Goroka from NSW, and my family had moved up to Goroka from Madang, and being the “newbies” we both were, we decided to pair up with each other when our class teacher Mr Kevin Tom instructed the class to find reading partners.
She was that cute, chubby, fair-skinned, rosy-cheeked, dark-haired “highlands girl”, who complemented my tall, dark, lanky, “nambis” self well. We hit it off almost immediately, her family became my family, mine became hers. Our homes had landlines back then, each other’s numbers memorized by heart, and as if seeing each other in school wasn’t enough, we’d also call each other on our landlines every other day to discuss “this” or “that”, almost always having something new to talk about (much to our parents’ dismay)😅.
The years went by, and it was 2005 when I showed up after the Christmas and New Year’s break to start year 6. As usual, I scanned the classroom for the only face I wanted to see, and my heart dropped when I couldn’t find it. Concerned, I approached the class teacher and asked “Where is Jasmine”? The teacher replied, “your friend has skipped year 6, and she is now in the year 7 class”. As if on impulse, I immediately announced to the teacher that I wanted to skip year 6 too. The next day, I carried my books and bag pack, and proceeded to Mr Liwayong’s year 7 class😅 I never did year 6, because of you❤️
We finished year 8 at GIS, and started off high school at Goroka Secondary School in 2007. To my dismay, we didn’t get “streamed” into the same class, but I didn’t mind as our classrooms were next to each other (you were in 9.5 and I was in 9.2), and as long as we got to see each other every day, and enjoy those walks home together after school, that was more than enough for us.
Senior high school came, and it was time for us to decide what we wanted to do with our lives. At the end of the year 10 national examinations, we both got placed into the 11.5 physics/chemistry class (ol sa tok disla class em “cream of the crop blo Goroka Secondary”😅. Despite this, we knew that wasn’t what we wanted to do in life. You knew you wanted to be a lawyer when you were still a child, after watching a “Judge Judy” episode, and I knew that was also the path I was destined for, so when the streaming process was finalized, we both settled for the 11.4, history/economics class.
High school was a whirlwind experience of its own. Two goofy teenagers, struggling to find their place in society, dealing with “icky boys” and our parents being in our faces all the time (we get it now Mr & Mrs O and Mr & Mrs I)😅 The end of year 12 came, we both applied to the UPNG School of Law, not knowing whether or not we’d succeed, next to the other great minds of this country.
We got the news of our admission to the School of Law the same time. Our 17–year old selves leaving the comfort of home for the first time, we boarded that plane for Port Moresby together, and started our uni journey. Of course we ended up being neighbors at DMK (female freshmen dorms at UPNG) in year 1, and then roommates at the International Village, in year 2 (the universe knew we couldn’t be apart so always made sure we were close)😅
Years 3 and 4 breezed by, and before we knew it, we were law school seniors in uni, running around trying to compile our Major Research Paper, and then anxiously waiting to see if we had passed and were eligible for graduation and subsequently admission to the Legal Training Institution for post-graduate legal studies before achieving our childhood dreams of becoming fully-fledged lawyers (and doing so side-by side😅)
We went up to that podium on the same day, our proud parents in the crowd, and received our Bachelor of Laws degrees in 2015. With no time to waste, we buried our noses in the textbooks again, and “endured” LTI. 2015 went by as quickly as it started, and before we knew it, we were again running around Port Moresby, getting our “Application for Admission as a Lawyer” drafted, filed and served, before admission day on February 26th, 2016 at the Waigani National Court. We took our Lawyer’s Oaths together, swearing to serve the Independent State of Papua New Guinea as officers of the courts, you in one courtroom, me in the other, and before we knew it, you were Counsel Omena, initial J, and I was Counsel Ignas, initial S, both with names permanently inked on the Lawyers’ Roll of 🇵🇬
Our legal careers had started. It was a dream come true (to say the least). You started off straight away with the Office of the Public Prosecutor, first as a Legal Officer, then Senior Legal Officer, then a gazetted State Prosecutor before you left me for the other world💔
Life happened of course, you went your way, I went mine. We talked almost every single day. The memes you’d randomly send me, the jokes that only you and I would get, the “Oi, meri, yu AWOL lo laif blo mi ya, are you having another boyfriend-related mental breakdown or”?😂
You moved back home to Goroka after the first few years in POM after admission to be closer to your parents, and I moved back home to be closer to mine, after I started working at Lihir. You insisted I send you a copy of my roster so you’d know exactly when I’d be on break, so you’d plan our catching up sessions around that😅
You are the ONLY person in this universe who knows me. Like REALLY know me. The ins and the outs. The deepest darkest secrets. We always said we were each other’s soul mates, as our lives, our brains, everything was intertwined. The second I lost my Yayen, you were the first person I messaged. I knew you’d get it. I knew you wouldn’t be “too wordy” with your messages back, I knew you’d allow me time to process things on my own, and deal with the grief my way. You were waiting for Yayen and me at home in Goroka when the helicopter brought him home. You were the only one of my friends who showed up for his funeral. You told me I wrote and read a beautiful eulogy, and told me “you are your father’s daughter, you are his pride, Em go but mipla lukim yu ya mipla lukim Em stap, pasin na olgeta samting blo em em yu karim raun stap”. You were the only one who would get it. Like really get it.
On the day of Yayen’s funeral up at the estate in May, I dropped you off at home after refreshments. You told me “Shazza ba mitla go planim Daddy lo Madang ya tsol circuit lo Buka too so larim ne go”. I told you I loved you, and that you didn’t have to worry, Yayen would understand, he always wanted us to succeed in our careers and was oh so ever proud of us. That was the last time I saw you alive. I hugged you tight outside your house, told you to have a good time in Buka, to take care, and that id see you very soon.
We moved back down to Madang a few months after that. You were crushed that you weren’t in town to see your best friend off, and told me “Goroka will never be the same again now that you’re not here” (I guess that jokes on me now Jazz😭). I flew home for break 3 weeks ago. You messaged me and said, “Shazza, me, mum and Dad will come down to Madang, spend a weekend with you guys, see Daddy’s tomb and then we’ll go back up”. I told you I couldn’t wait, I told you I had already made plans to take you to all my favorite islands in Madang, we’d get up to our crazy nonsense just being our goofy old selves, and then go back to “reality” after that.
Last Saturday, I was napping in the afternoon when I received a message that made my heart skip several beats. They told me you were not well, and were in hospital. I knew in my heart of hearts that I needed to be in Goroka immediately. I confided in Mum, she told me, “it’s a bit risky driving up by yourself, maybe you can fly up on Monday”. I told her “I know for a fact that Monday will be too late. I need to go and see her now”. That was how our minds were intertwined. I knew what you were thinking even before you said it, and vice versa.
I arrived in Goroka at 5pm on Sunday, drove like a madwoman to the hospital, parked the car, and ran straight in to see you. I held your hand, rubbed your feet, stayed with you the entire night, begged you to wake up and talk to me, but I got nothing. At 5am, with a heavy heart, I read to you the 23rd Psalm (the Lord is my Shepherd) and said a prayer with and for you. Our hearts continued beating together, until you left mine to beat alone in this cold, dark world, exactly 1.5 hours later💔
You taught me a lot of things, but you didn’t teach me how to live without you💔
I thank God for the beautiful life of Miss Jasmine Marilyn Garano Omena, I thank Mr & Mrs Omena for raising a God-fearing, disciplined young woman with a passion for good, and I thank Doni Omenafor sharing her sister with me💔 There are no words Jasmine, I never thought you’d leave me this way, you and I were gonna grow old together, you and I were gonna create beautiful legacies together, it wasn’t supposed to have ended this way💔
I want to question you God, I want to tell you this is unfair, that she didn’t deserve this, but your Word tells me to Trust you, so trust you I will, you gave her to me and now you’ve taken her from me, so only yu tasol saveh Papa God💔
Fly high Jasmine blo mi, may your beautiful beautiful soul rest in endless love, Miss Omena, initial J, for the State!👩🏾⚖️💔🕊💫💚
