I dreamt you were gone!
I was in school just having a snack at the student centre then I received a call from dad. “Hello son, you need to come to Nairobi Hospital right now! Your mom…”
My phone just fell of my hands and all I heard was a ringing sound in my ears. I sped to the washroom and soaked my face in water. My mind was racing, my heart was numb.
“What’s up bruh?” “It’s…It’s mmmmy mom. She’s leaving bruh! She is leaving!” Bobby gave me a tight hug and assured me that everything was going to be okay but that didn’t help: like those high school prescriptions. Back at the café Abby and Sheila were all over me comforting me. I found myself crying mom.
This cannot happen mom. You see I cannot even believe anything like that. When I look at you, I see that beautiful smile that lights up my world. I see resilience in your spirit. Your perseverance is top notch. Whatever life throws at you, you somehow supernaturally deal with it and bring out something good from it: a lemonade. You never give up. Even when life buries you, you shoot up like a mustard seed and conquer.
How can you leave? Let that day never be located.
This dream opened my eyes. It made me think of life without you and all I did was just shed tears. Our hearts are connected like a tight knot, I think if you go, mine will wither away, like a flower under the mercies of the sun, a seed coat done with its job.
“Wakey! Wakey!” This is how you used to wake us up for school. I never used to like this call because it shattered my dreams and reminded me that I had to meet Mr Kinyanjui again. I remember one day I didn’t rise at the first call, the next minute my face was all wet with ice-cold water. I remember you laughing at the way I bolted out of bed and we ended up laughing together. I took a shower and had breakfast with my sister then waited for our school bus with you at the stage.
You remember the day the bus actually left us. We had to literally use some wild routes to beat it at the next stage: you were a strategist, never missed a plan ha! ha!
You know you were the one who taught me how to cook. At a very young age I developed interest and you fed the urge in me with skills. You are the best cook, and I was your protégé, am I still? No. right now I am the best: beating the master lol. Mom, in campus I make very good food people marvel at the taste, the aroma, the presentation, the art. Today I want them to know that it is from you. I remember you told me the skill was hereditary because your mom was the best in the village, and everyone knew it.
Talking about your mom, I know this may make you emotional a bit but guess you already healed. She was a gem. I don’t know if you were afraid to lose her like I am today. Back at upcountry I remember we never interacted with hunger but with luscious meals. May she rest in peace. She’s proud of you, you know.
You know the way one can fall on a mattress from a height without getting hurt? Yeah, that’s because when you fall on it, it cushions you: I’d say shock absorbing. You are our shock absorber. It was very hard for us to feel the pain we were supposed to be exposed to because you absorbed it all behind your back and held us in your arms with a smile on your face. I thought everything was fine, that all was well. I couldn’t fathom the kind of sacrifice you took for us, oh my now I see.
Lemme talk about your beauty. Your countenance oozes beauty in glorious streams with aesthetic appeal. Your face glows like the sun at 7:30. Your face, it could stop a clock: a thing of beauty is joy forever. Your character, clear proof that your beauty is not skin deep, but it runs in your DNA. That’s why my sisters have that striking beauty and well, I am the most handsome and everyone knows it. You are the epitome of beauty: when they said that black is beauty, I think you were the reference.
Someone once told me that men are not good at multitasking. I have learnt to accept that. Your level of multitasking is just implausible. You juggle tasks like a pro, one I have never seen.
I cannot forget your disciplinary measures. Your weapon, slippers, was just it. We would lie down, and it would land mercilessly on our behinds. You would also throw it at us, and it never missed, the accuracy! I think I also learnt this from you because in the lab I’m usually exactly that. I cannot forget the pinch you used to give us in the thigh. You told us that you beat out of love ha! ha!
One time I lost sleep in the middle of the night and I heard some murmurs. I paid close attention and started hearing clearly. It was you mom, it was you! You were praying for us. In the middle of the night, you were asking God to protect us, to guide us, to bless us. I could hear you sobbing, pleading with God. Your prayers have kept me.
When I grew up, I came to realize that there are some people who just don’t want you to succeed in raising us or in anything else. They come in form of serpents with their deceit or like a beast, outrightly devouring. I came to know that it is the tree with ripe fruits that gets stoned at. You produced fruits mom! You persevered all this, you never let it stop you from doing all that you believed in.
You had your own weaknesses, but I am yet to see a perfect human being: your guess is as good as mine, there is none. One thing is a constant, you are my mom.
Nine months in your womb, painful birth, all these years of ups and downs. Happy moments, sad moments, tough moments altogether.
This is why I say, dear mom,
I know very well I cannot repay you for all that you have done but I want to thank you so much. My heart is wholly thanking you for the life I am living right now because you gave me that. I will work in this world, I will give all I have to, I will sweat to make your life blissful. You see, the life you sacrificed so that I could have all these, I will redeem all that, I will make you enjoy it all. You are special, so you deserve special.
Dear moms,
To all the moms in the world, you are very special. Your sons and daughters know that, and they always think about you. You light up this world with love. We need you making moves in this country, in our homes because you never fail. Your prayers have held us high even in the wildest of storms. You are all angels! For those moms that have gone, we know that you are always watching us from paradise. You are always proud of us and cheering on us. We are not alone! We were never alone! We can never celebrate you in one day, even in all our days.
Thank you, moms❤!
Manenoz 