"...A man belongs to his Fatherland when things are good and life is
sweet but when there is sorrow and bitterness, he finds refuge in his
Motherland, your mother is there to protect you...and that is why we say
that mother is supreme" - Chinua Achebe, (Things fall apart).
A last
stroke of makeup brush swept ever so lightly across her fair cheeks to
blend in her dull pink blush and she was ready as she assessed her
overall facial makeup in her tiny oval mirror attached to her makeup
block powder case to ensure it was perfect,
"How do I look son?"
She
asked me, turning to look at me, I smiled and spurted out "Flawless" as I
thought she was the strongest woman I know. Here she is, in a
ramshackle of a house, in a room lacking her usual giant mirror and well
placed lighting yet not letting her present situation dampen her soul,
she still applies makeup and in lieu of her giant mirror, improvised by
using a tiny powder case mirror, still looking high in spirit and ready
to go, it made me be in awe of her as in a millisecond, memories of the
many times she's shown incredible strength flashed across my eyes,
from moments as a young child when Dad died and she was put in the
midst of her sisters-in-law, her hair disheveled and was emotionally and
psychologically tortured yet stood her ground and proclaimed her
innocence to raising three boys on her own, enrolling back in school
with the determination to change her story and make a success of her
life, oh! How I remember the struggle or the memories of us eating low
quality meals yet coming out with toothpicks in our mouth acting like
we've just had a bountifully delicious meal just as I remember her late night cries
when she thinks we were all asleep so we won't see her breakdown and how
shocked she was as she shivered upon my hands resting on her shoulders
to comfort her..I could go on and on.