A Mother's Day Special

Dedicated to all the mum's and mother figures out there. We celebrate you!

Mum, mummy, mom, mommy, mother, mama, maame, ma, mama, mami, madre, mère. However you say or spell it. This word generally means the person who birthed us and shows us the most amount of love, affection and will always be there for us or we assume always would. Mother is any person, male or female, biological birth giver or not, who has shown us love, protection and provision. An individual who has guided us and provided support when it really mattered most. The person who has made us feel wanted, accepted and loved without necessarily requesting any tangible payment. I say tangible payment because most mums, at least mine requests respect and obedience. #africanmothers Lol that's the least we can do I guess.

I would like to share a little bit about my mum, Gifty today. It would be very untruthful and hypocritical of me if I said we always agreed on everything, never argued, never got into misunderstandings and never disliked each other at some point. Yes, there are moments of disagreements where I don't particularly like my mum #realtalk. She is one of the few people I have known all my life; literally from the day I was born till today. I appreciate her and everything she does for us. She is extremely hardworking, selfless, generous and honestly, she gives some of the best pieces of advice. Although my siblings and I always laugh during those "speeches" because of how dramatic her delivery is, it is eventually engrained in our minds. We know mothers want "the best" for us and want to see us succeed. However, I feel mine sometimes wants to see us succeed so bad that she almost wants to "live through us". It's almost as if she has this great life mapped out for us in her head to the point that if she sees us veering from that "perfect" imaginary road of hers, she stops and tries to redirect us with such passion. Now, don't get me wrong- All I'm saying is, I wish she would sometimes let us make mistakes and learn from them but I guess that's a part of the safeguarding spirit of a mother. No one is perfect so why would she be, right?

I would like to acknowledge all the mothers who have passed and have left their children with a painful wound which feels reopened on days like this. May their souls keep resting in perfect peace. To those children, I send you love, comfort and prayers especially today. I pray that God continues to provide you joy and true peace. To the children with absentee mothers, I pray that you find the strength to forgive. I pray you let go of any resentment and bask in the love that other people in your life offer you. To the children with mothers who are stuck abroad or overseas due to immigration issues, my heart goes out to you. I hope that today, you have the best online chat ever. I hope you find ways to keep your memories of her close and you find solace in the fact that no situation is ever permanent.

Now, to the women who aren't mothers yet or are unable to have children of their own, always remember, you don't have to physically bear a child for you to be able to show them love. There are a myriad of children in the world who need love and you can be that person who shows them what love is. Also, prayer is the key and our God is a God of miracles and wonders.

My mum and grandmother

Thank you to the grandmothers, aunties, cousins, sisters, nurses, teachers, counselors, friends, males and all individuals who have played motherly roles and filled voids. We really appreciate you all.

I leave you with one of my mum's most repeated pieces of advice:

"I can buy anything you want but make sure you obtain an education or learn a skill. Do you know why? Because when you have that, nobody can take it away from you. They can take all your possesions but that knowledge is in your head and no one can EVER take it away from you"

Try reading this in your mum's most stern voice. Trust me, it hits differently.

Happy Happy Mother's Day!

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Be you, do you, stay you

Adwoa.