Mothers are significant figures in the lives of their children. In fact, their importance cannot be emphasized enough. The love for their children is priceless and can be deemed the purest love of all.
I still don't know how they do it; raising children, taking care of their homes, careers, businesses, and everything in between, but hopefully when I get to be a mother someday I pray I get it right. The favorite memory I have of my mother was when she dupposedly forgot my 11th birthday.
I remember being sad then because I was a daddy's girl and my father always traveled a lot for business and I knew he wouldn't be around for my birthday as usual. My mother, on the other hand, seemed to have forgotten my birthday was coming up.
I was born on the fourth of July, so towards the end of June I waited for my family members to start talking about my upcoming birthday as usual, but they didn't. On the D-Day I had to finally remind them after hours of sulking didn't get the message across and after the ‘ohhs and ahhs and their excuses of forgetting’ they wished me a very happy birthday and went about their businesses.
My mother claimed she had a meeting at the house, so she asked my cousins and I to go to a nearby eatery to get ice cream and snacks. I became even more upset because that was the first time a birthday had been forgotten in my house and the birthday was mine.
My anger didn't affect my appetite because I ate as much ice cream as I could and played some of their games. As we headed home, the only thing on my mind was how I was going to enjoy taking a long nap. But as soon as we crossed the gate of our house, I noticed something was different.
Firstly, the compound smelled like party Jollof rice. The main door was wide open and I could hear laughter and voices. On getting closer, I realized one of the voices sounded familiar, but I thought my ears were deceiving me. I walked into the living room to find my relations, neighbors, friends and numerous gifts waiting for me.
I screamed with joy and excitement upon realizing my ears had heard right because my Dad had also returned to celebrate my day. Happily I hugged him and kept jumping with happiness. “Madam, hope you'll stop walking around my house with a frown on your face?” my mother asked behind me. My mother knew that the presence of my Dad would make me happier than the surprise party.
Sheepishly, I turned to hug her and thank her for everything. It was a memorable day as I had a wonderful time with my friends and cousins, and we played games and danced and made merry. I later found out no one forgot my birthday and that it was all my mom's idea to surprise me that year.
I will never forget when she walked in with my cake. My joy tripled because I love cakes. At the end of the day, I was tired but deliriously happy, I kept on thanking her, but she just said, “Seeing you happy makes me happy too”. I think I slept with a smile on my face that night.
Even until today, she’s always there for me. That birthday celebration was one of the last memories she created with my Dad, as he died some months later. The happiness of her children gladdens my mother's heart, and today we put smiles on her face every other day by spoiling her silly.
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