You see in this life people love to make promises. Not just small ones like borrowing sugar or returning a phone call but the big ones. The “I will marry you” “I will never leave you” “We will build a future together” kind. These promises feel heavy like stones in the heart but sometimes no matter how hard we try they break like dry twigs underfoot.

I remember one afternoon when I was listening to Radio Jambo’s program called Patanisho which means reconciliation. It is a show where people call in with real stories about love heartbreak and all the messiness of relationships. That day a woman begged her ex to take her back even as a second wife. No children between them no promises left except desperation. You know what? That story is not hers alone. It is a story for many of us.

Another caller told how she quit school because her boyfriend promised to take care of her. Months later the same boyfriend married another woman while she was still waiting for his call. “Dust is constant” she said “love is like dust it settles where it wants.” I could almost feel the weight of those words.

Then there was a young man who admitted he cheated on his fiancée while working in Nairobi. He said the city life was full of distractions and his heart got pulled in different directions. When his fiancée found out she was devastated and ended the engagement. “Promises made in the village are hard to keep in the city” he said softly.

Another caller shared how she had been in a long distance relationship for years. She would save every coin to visit her boyfriend but every visit brought new fights and disappointments. In the end she realized love was no longer enough. “Dust covers the dreams we build together” she said “sometimes you have to let it go.”

Back home in my village there was a young couple Samuel and Esther. Everyone said they were meant for each other. You could see it in how Samuel’s eyes followed Esther like a lost puppy and the way Esther smiled shyly but confidently when he held her hand. The elders would say “Those two they will marry soon” and the youth would nod in agreement already imagining the big day.

For months Samuel and Esther sat under the old mango tree every evening talking about their future house the children they would have and the food Esther would cook on their wedding day. I remember overhearing Esther say “I will wear white and dance until dawn” while Samuel grinned like the luckiest man alive.

But life my friend is not a smooth road. It is dusty and bumpy. When Samuel left for town to look for work things started to change. The town was a different world new people new temptations and promises whispered in shadows.

One evening Esther traveled to town hoping to surprise Samuel with his favorite mandazi. She thought she would catch him working late or at least waiting for her at their usual spot. Instead she saw him with another woman laughing touching and making new promises.

Esther’s heart shattered. She stood there frozen the dust swirling at her feet like mocking spirits. Samuel saw her his smile fading but he said nothing. The woman by his side did not even notice Esther’s tears.

When Esther came back to the village she did not talk much. Her friends whispered “What happened?” but she just shook her head and said “Dust is constant. Love is like dust. It settles where it wants.”

I remember talking to Esther weeks later. She told me “You know I believed in forever. I thought love was forever. But dust settles and sometimes it settles on a stranger’s shoulder.”

And that is the truth we all try to deny. You can make all the promises in the world but people change. Hearts drift. The dust blows in covers your dreams and you have to wipe it away and start again.

But here is the funny thing about dust no matter how thick it gets if you care enough you can clean it off and find the shine underneath. Esther did. She went back to school started her own business and now she laughs louder than anyone in the village. As for Samuel? Well the dust settled on someone else’s shoulders.

So what does dust teach us? It teaches us that love is not always constant. It moves shifts and sometimes disappears. But life goes on. New promises will be made new loves will come and maybe just maybe the dust will settle again in the right place.

Because dust is constant but so is hope.