Jacques Rwothumio

A GRATEFUL MAN BORN IN A MISUNDERSTOOD MONTH March has a branding problem. It walks into the calendar like a well-dressed suspect -smiling, but with a reputation. Ever since the 'Ides of March' -when Julius Caesar met his famously overcommitted colleagues -we’ve treated the entire month like it owes us an apology. But must one Roman boardroom ambush define the whole season? I refuse. Because long before daggers, mid-March was about life -picnics, laughter, dancing by the river. Proper enjoyment. The kind where even your village uncle starts stories that have no ending. And then there’s my own March. A month that once tried to quietly escort me off stage -March 16, last year, a thrombectomy. A near curtain call. But here I am -alive, alert, and still asking unnecessary questions. If anything, March did not curse me -it clarified me. Then we go back -1969. What a year! Apollo 11 Moon Landing told mankind, “You can leave Earth and still come back with stories.” #ArtemissII follows suit -God willing, on April 1, 2026. Sesame Street and Scooby-Doo was teaching us life before life could teach us itself. And somewhere between moon dust and childhood wonder, I arrived - March 30. No headlines. No trumpet. But history adjusted itself, just slightly. From rhyming “Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree” in my primary school days, to singing to Pat Shange’s Anytime Babe swagger, to humming today’s amapiano Hai Wena Mani - my life has been a moving soundtrack. Sometimes off-key, sometimes on fire, but always playing. Nkadiye? Perhaps. But still capable. Still dancing when the right song drops. Even Elvis Presley failed at golf and still walked away with a hit. That’s life. You swing, you miss, you compose. So no -I will not let #March intimidate me with ancient gossip. I choose gratitude. I choose to see a month that gave me breath, rhythm, curiosity, scars, stories -and the audacity to laugh through it all. Beneath all the wit, the wanderings, the questions, the noise -there is simply a man, deeply grateful for life, and hopeful for many more verses. Many would not beware the ides of March but a Tiger “Wood”. Now take care of April first… #MarchMadness #Uganda #MarchHappiness #Birthdays #IdesofMarch #March30