13/09/2026
Last term, during the end-of-the-year party at one of my schools, the hall was full of colour, chatter, and the sweet smell of perfume. The program had reached its most tender moment: the farewell performance by Primary J.S.S.2 students for their outgoing S.S..S.3 students...
They stood in a well arranged line, looking so serious and voices bright at first. Then came the part of the song where they called names, one after the other. “Amina! Tunde! Grace! Daniel!”
With each name, something shifted. Little by little; voices began to tremble. Eyes filled. Soon, the whole line was crying...
The crying spread like ripples on water. Parents who had come in with cameras and proud smiles now reached for tissue. The boy leading the song, chest puffed with pride at the start, and all of a sudden, broke down completely. His voice could not carry the weight of goodbye. He quietly passed the microphone to the girl beside him and stepped back, tears running freely.
Some parents whispered with admiration. “That boy must really love them,” one said. “Look how he feels it.”
But beside me, a woman offered a different thought; she said “Many of these children crying now are the same ones who ignored those seniors in class or disobeyed them as prefects,” she said. “These tears are just emotion. It will dry when the party ends.”
Another woman chuckled and nodded. “That’s true oo. Tomorrow they might pass them in the street and not even greet.”
Her words stung because they carried truth. Emotion is easy. It rises quickly, like smoke. But character is harder. It stays, like firewood.
That moment taught me something important about children, and about us as adults. Tears are not fake. They are real in that moment. They show that the heart can feel. But feelings without action are like a song with no ending. It starts beautifully and fades into nothing.
If we truly value people, our goodbye should not be the loudest part. Our everyday should be. Greeting, helping, respecting, and appreciating people while they are still with us is what turns emotion into meaning.
The J.S.S.2 students reminded me that love is not measured only by how loudly we cry when someone is leaving. It is measured by how kindly we treat them while they are still here.
In a nutshell, the most educative applause is not the one we give at a party. It is the one we give daily, through our actions.
Let our tears be honest, but let our behavior be even louder. Happy weekend. I am Famous writer
