It's Mothers Day tomorrow. Listening to the local airwaves, I was met with legions of dedications and songs as a tribute to mothers. Honestly speaking, all those dedications sounded repetitive and identical. All of them ran through the lines of " World's greatest Mom ", " Mom of the year ", " Super Mom ", " Mummy kicks ass", etc etc. I began to wonder if they were all biologically linked to the same mom.
I could splurge a flurry of cornucopia depicting how perfect my mom is and how she deserves to be nominated for the numerous ' Mummy Awards ' out there. But no, i would be lying. My mom is far from perfect. My flaw-filled mom sometimes shows a hint of paranoia, cares way too much on what people think of her, is unreasonable at times, tech illiterate and a galore of listings which i shall refrain from exposing. But like any other mom, She loves her kids.
My mom is blessed with a daughter and physically and mentally trialled with a son. Its sort of a Yin and Yang thing. I still recall the early years where she would be constantly bombarding me with lectures and beatings. I remember rebelling once. I have no recollection on what ensued after the rebellious onslaught, but i only remember me waking up on my bed with my sister applying salve on what appeared to be stripped bruises on my arms and legs.
I never rebelled again.
Until i was 15 and woke up to the same scenario on my bed. To be fair, i wasn't a splitting image of the kid from the Brady bunch either.
As you can see, life for mom wasn't a bed of roses. Things took a change for the worse nine years ago. She was left a widow and the sole bread winder for the family. She tutored as her profession to help make ends meet. Playing the role of both a father and mom, she made sure that both my sister and i were fed and educated. The first few years was bearable as the very modest amount of savings left behind from my dad helped us to get by.
It didn't help that i was as lazy as hell and ate like a pig.
That life didn't last long. It was more of a frisson of some sort. The funds were soon depleted and we were left hanging dry. Mom often had to dissemble into a jubilant fray to keep spirits high. Things started getting from bad to worse. There was a stage where our staple diet was white rice and egg. White rice and eggs!!!! Its not really pleasant. Believe me. We got through by Gods grace of sending various blessings through people we knew. I ate proper meals at times though, Many thanks to my friends whom i forced a meal out off.
There was this day when mom came home and told me to get ready for dinner. Naturally, the thought of white rice and eggs came to mind. But it was different that time, we were going out for dinner. There was something peculiar about it, i asked mom how was it possible. She gestured a smile and told me not to worry about it and to just eat to my hearts content. Needless to say, I ate to my hearts content. Still, the inquisitive side of me bugged me to find out how we could afford to eat out. I learned later from my sister that very night that mom pawned in her most treasured jewelry that day.
I walked past by her bedroom the very same night only to hear her in the middle of a prayer. Every word still engraved in my memory. " Lord, thank you for your blessings that has helped us through, But i pray for the days to come, I pray that my children will have their mouths fed, even if it means that i don't eat, but please do not let my children go hungry."
It was a pivotal point for me from that moment on. I swore to myself to do everything in my power to give my mom the life she deserves. Well, that time certainly has not arrived, but I'm slowly inching my way there. I still drive her up the wall up till today though. Her prayers has certainly seen the family through as things are far better now thanks to the awesome people God has sent to us.
If there ever is a " Perfect Mom " award out there. I sure my below-perfect mom would be a suitable candidate. Anyways, wish all your mamas a very blessed mothers day tomorrow.
And to my mom ( In the unlikely event that she should stumble upon this blog )
Happy Mothers Day.
Post a Comment