Like most memories, my memories of Chief Oso have blurred as the decades have passed; it's hard to make them out individually or to distinguish one from the other, and they've all sort of become one short movie scene, like a vignette.
This is a good thing, I think...this one scene is so clear in what it tells you about Chief Oso that it's easy to say "Yes, for sure, this is who this man was (and this is what I remember about him)."
For some reason, the scene is always at a wedding (because Chief Oso had a huge heart, and loved to celebrate other peoples' joys with them.) I find my way to Chief's table to greet him and Mummy Oso (because I consider them my parents, guardians who put a roof over my head for three years).
As soon as he sees me, Chief extends a hand; I take his right hand with mine and begin to lower my left to touch the floor. Before I can fully get to the floor, he stands and pulls me up and wraps me in this big hug with his left arm (because Chief was so deeply warm and welcoming...always.)
He holds me out in front of him by my shoulders, towering over me (because Chief is a large man), then asks after my parents. He has the biggest smile on (because he was all joy, all the time). I can never quite see his eyes; he always has tinted glasses on (because he was always so darn cool.)
Then he leads me by the hand over to greet Mummy Oso (because they were - as Tola would say - "like 5 and 6." The process of greeting one is incomplete without properly greeting the other.") Then they both tell me to do well, and say a few blessings, as godly parents do to their children, biological or otherwise.
That's it. That's the whole memory.
But the man it recalls remains with me long after the scene ends, and he was so large in all those things: his enthusiasm for celebrating life, his generosity, his warmth, his joy, his cool, his love for his family, his love for God.
Chief Oso was a great man, and I will miss him dearly.