My mother, she says I’m her husband and I’m secretly glad that I am. Hopefully I am the husband she never had.

My mother is everything to me. We fight big and make up like nothing ever happened.

I never understood her importance until I became a mother too. Now, I share everything with her and I tell myself that it’s not too late to get to know her.

Once, we fell on hard times and my mother became creative. She found the tiny snails; the kind that hides behind the plantain trees after a rainfall. She cleaned them and made a pot of Oha soup with them. She would worry about what we would eat until bed time. I never had to worry, I never had to beg, I never had to cry for anything. I just knew that mother provided for me.

My mother was a stunner as a young lady. I would always watch her put her makeup on and I watched her walk in her pretty shoes and whenever she would go out, I would wear her shoes and her lipstick and catwalk around the house.

It is funny how I can never find the words to appreciate my mother on days like this. My mother, the same disciplinarian who took no nonsense is the same woman who wants me to pamper my children; even when they are wrong. And I always ask her “mommy are you sure this is you?”

My mother, the great cook. She can make and bake anything without using measuring cups. “I will eye ball the measurements” she always says. And trust me, it always comes out perfect.

If asked who my role model is, my answer would be my mother. Her resilient attitude and her belief that I can be whatever I choose to be constantly pushes me.

My mother sold palm kernels just to buy her books for school. From the word “go” she believed that women must educate themselves in order to keep thriving.

My mother my Obioma. She sewed my dress once with a needle and a thread. The things she does with her hands…

My mother is like an Iroko tree. She stands tall and strong as the matriarch of our family. Her roots strong as the Ukwa tree and her sweetness likened to the Udara fruit.

I couldn’t put to words everything my mother is to me. But I one thing I know for sure is my love begins and ends with you mommy.

Happy Mother’s Day