I was sobbing quietly trying to look out the window of my seat. The bus was leaving the park slowly and I could see my mum waving outside the window smiling .More tears streamed down my cheeks as I realized I would have to wait for 3 whole months to see her warm smile again. "Are you going away from your family for the first time? "....a husky voice interrupted my chain of thoughts.
I hurriedly wiped my tears and looked up. A handsome guy seemingly in his early 20s was sitting beside me. 'well yes, I have lived with my family for several years of education even if I travelled out for vacations I could come back at will but now I study faraway from Abuja and only get to see them after three months at least' I blurted out complaining like a little child.
"I understand it must be tough, He said with an emphatic smile. I have been through this 'oh you also school away from your parents? ',I chipped..... 'yes, I do but not just from my mother but also my family as well. You see my parents live in Jos and I study in the university of Jos ',he said, as a matter-of-fact.But why don't you study in Jos,i asked curiously.
'Oh it actually is not safe to study there due to insurgence in the country and also it would be difficult for my mom to pay my tuition fee.so I study in university of calabar under the scholarship scheme and my parents visit me twice a year. She always brings lots of gifts for me',He declared happily as if trying to give a happy ending to his story.
I wasn't sure if I should join in his cheer or express my concern. He was obviously going through a difficult time, studying and managing his worries over his mom who has financial issues and is living in a town made unsafe by terrorists all on his own but not for once while stating all this did he looked stressed.
In fact he shared how happy he was studying for free which in a way has helped his mum's financial status and how one-day he would achieve his dreams and be able to repay his mothers kind heart .
I looked at his cute face again as he replaced the picture of his mother which had been in his hands slowly into his bag. His cheerful smile resembled that of my mother when she light the candle and encouraged me to study before my warm exams. She would sit right by me all night and still manage to wake up fresh and early enough to prepare our meal.
I sometimes wondered if she secretly had super powers because she never seemed tired enough not to cater to my needs.
She bought us second hand clothes,washed and pressed them so we also could make Shakara during the holidays and not even once included herself in her 'market list'as we called it.
I remember her laughing aloud when I had asked her once 'mama you no dey tire, you know dey tell us make we commot say we too dey disturb you, don't you ever feel like running away from it all? '.
What she told me inspired me throughout me then and continues to inspire me through out my life, she said, 'I no dey tire because na you dey give strength, your smile, your hugs, your thanks and success keeps me going'.
I know for a fact that this story reverberates in millions of households, offices and social networks across Nigeria where women are maintaining delicate balance between home and work and spreading smiles and cheer as wives, mothers, friends, daughters while making a mark and name for themselves in a plethora of career fields through their various sacrifice.
Here's saluting all you incredibly inspiring women out there ,you are special not because of the extra -ordinary things you do but because of how you make the ordinary things special with the choices you make.
Stay this way, be yourself, follow your heart and keep making the choices you believe in. Yes I'm a woman and I choose to be myself.
BY
Iwezua Goodness.
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