The love between Dr Joyce Laboso and her husband Mr Edwin Abonyo withstood all odds.
Marrying Dr Laboso was not easy, her in-laws and close friends of Mr Abonyo revealed during the governor’s burial in Koru, Kisumu County on Saturday.
They narrated how Dr Laboso’s father- a highly influential figure in the greater Kericho then, had resisted their marriage since Mr Abonyo came from a different tribe.
It would become one of the many hurdles that Dr Laboso would overcome over the years.
She chased her dreams to raise a solid family and become a celebrated leader in the country in her generation.
While Dr Laboso’s father (Fredrick) had expressed a strong opposition towards their courtship, Mr Abonyo thanked his departed wife for remaining steadfast and standing with him in the formal stages of their relationship, which saw them remain married for the last 36 years.
She came from a very influential Kalenjin family in the greater Kericho then and her father would hear nothing of his daughter marrying from another community, her in-laws revealed.
Speaking to mourners in Koru on Saturday, Mr Abonyo recalled how his mother in law gave him the courage to fight for his love when things seemed not to work in his favour.
“I remember when I wanted to marry Joyce, the father was opposed to her being married to an ‘outsider’, ” he said.
“I could have given up had it not been for my mother in law who is now deceased,” he said.
As fate would have it, said Mr Abonyo, he developed a strong relationship with Dr Laboso.
As a way of appreciating the long-standing relationship with the Laboso’s, he vowed not to abandon the family.
His close friend and former Kisumu Mayor Sam Okello also narrated how they overcame the challenge of almost being rejected.
“We grew up together, went to school together, started working together and all found our wives from Kericho.
“Guns were drawn at some point but we only made it due to the firmness of Joyce,” he said during a requiem mass that was held at St Augustine Kandege Secondary School in Kisumu County.
Mr Herbert Ojwang, Mr Abonyo’s friend noted that it was not easy to convince Laboso family to let their eldest daughter to get married to an outsider.
“It was not easy to convince a wealthy family that their first born daughter was being courted by someone who grew up in Nyalenda Slums in Kisumu,” he said.
Mr Abonyo’s elder brother, Aggrey, narrated the difficulties they encountered when they went for official introduction to Laboso’s parents in Konoin.
“They gave us a total of 24 girls all covered in the same outfit to identify Joyce. We missed two times and Joyce’s father told us if we failed a third time, we would not take his daughter,” he narrated.
“We were only saved by her after she gave us a signal on our last chance,” he said.
Despite undergoing all the hurdles, their love blossomed as the couple cemented their union.
Dr Laboso’s first born son Brian Abonyo said their parents demonstrated their commitment to the marriage vow “for better or for worse”.
“The journey mum faced in the last two months was very difficult for us all, and especially for my dad. Dad, I urge you to keep being strong for us,” he said.
The couple was also lauded for their excellent dancing skills by Mina Laboso, the daughter of Joyce’s sister Lorna.
“Mum and dad learnt to dance so well that I wondered whether they were practicing in their bedroom,” she told mourners.
In her matrimonial home, Dr Laboso was the typical mother and wife who ensured a perfect blend of both the Luo and Kalenjin cultures, with mursik (fermented milk) and obambla (dry tilapia fish) and other fish types- save for omena, frequently being served on her family’s dinner table, her first born son- Bryan Ochieng Kibet Abonyo revealed.
“She attended school events and everything else concerning her children and we are forever grateful to God for allowing us to experience a mother’s love,” he said.
He regretted that his mother did not get a chance to live in their beautiful family homes in Karen and Fort Ternan.
“Now that our mother is being laid to rest here, we will make this place our regular home and have her pictures all around to feel that she is still part of us,” said Brian.
Her health had deteriorated in the last three months, he said, adding that as a family, they had accepted her death.
“Let us be at peace with the will of God for her life,” he told mourners.
Dr Laboso had no room for mediocrity, her relatives said. When she was under pressure to give jobs to relatives, she would insist on merit, only promising to help where individuals had applied for positions and had been shortlisted.
Dr Laboso passed on last week after a long fight with cancer which she has lived with since 1991.
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