Their mother did not know her birthday. She was born in an era and place where no priority was placed on keeping records. And so when she had to get a national ID, their father guessed a date.
On WhatsApp statuses, her children see other children post their moms on their birthdays and feel unable to truly celebrate the birth of the woman that’s been there for them through thick and thin. Perhaps, birthdays were not the only way of celebrating a mentor.
Abena, Andrew, Naana and Asamoah, three strong black children produced by a strong black woman. Of course, her husband played a crucial role in their upbringing too.
But search for the worn-out rusty tyre that’s kept a family rolling through mud and dust and you’ve found a mother.
Their mother Konadu taught them all how to read basic words and sounds. There were times things were said in English rhymes they did not understand that their mother had to interpret in their mother-tongue. So sad today, many things they watch in English, they had to interpret in their language for mother to understand. How times change.
While they were young, they thought their mother was the best school teacher. Little did they know that she hadn’t gone far in her education and had to cobble the little things she knew to give them a great start.
Perhaps they owe her the duty of helping her master reading. Who knows what talents lie untapped in her because of the limitations her level of literacy has placed on her.
Or maybe, she’s not the only person they have to educate in return for the investments made in them.
The other day their mother went to a saloon for a change of looks. When she finally came out, after nearly spending the whole day there, she looked pitiful. Her children showered her effusively with positive comments. Not all truths must be told. Aging was playing a trick on their mother’s beauty and strength.
Sometimes, children find very old people funny. Little do they know that the smile of the piglet mocking the long nose of its mother is short-lived.
Abena, Andrew and Naana appreciate the efforts of both their mother and father, yet in their hearts, it is hard for them to give the full respect that their father deserves because of things their mother told them. At the back of their minds they know that when they grow up, problems they have with their spouses will remain between spouses and never spill over to children.
But despite a number of things they dislike about their parents, they do not underestimate the invaluable contributions of their parents to their lives.
There’s a certain phase of raising children that’s very slippery – that stage where teenagers and adults disagree over many things. Andrew remembers that day he didn’t go to school and left home, hoping to walk out on the constant fights and disagreements and just go anywhere adults did not bark at children. Had it not been for the old school teacher he bumped into and the sudden remembrance that he owed Mr. Abu, he would have been lost to his parents, perhaps forever.
Perhaps the ability to withstand all these things and still stick together is what makes a family. He knows of a family that could fight like savage dogs, spill all their secrets and the next day, laugh about it all over beer and a big bowl of steamy, spicy food.
He’s always marveled how they managed to live so.
Mowabites Worldwide 