Tombol

Today I woke up and went to google like I normally do and the image is that of Chinua Achebe.  I immediately laughed then teared up because it made me think of Tombol.  In high school we were hanging out at his house once and for my African American Lit class at Whitney Young I needed a book.  Tombol loaned me his copy so I wouldn't have to buy one.  The book was amazing and through i I was able to discover some other fantastic pieces of literature.  

Every time I saw Tombol after that he would ask about the book being returned.  I saw him at the Taste of Chicago maybe a year before his death and we briefly caught up (I was out of state for college).  We laughed and joked and he said "Hey man I give the book to your cousin to give to me". We laughed and said goodbye.  I didn't know it would be our last goodbye.  The book still sits in my collection and is a constant reminder of a great person the world had taken from them entirely too early.

Gregory Gurley