Oh Yea!
Today, the 13th day of November, I celebrate the incredible blessing of my mother Omolara Taibat Lawal (nee Oseni). On this day, 50 years ago, a goddess of a woman and a gem of a mother, was granted to earth, and I was lucky to partake of the gift.
Tharris ‘She’ Maaami !
Let me therefore, write in praise of my mother, the intelligent, strong, industrious, and loving wife of A.A. Lawal and proud mother to Afolashade, Abisola, Hafeez, Sodiq, and Ayomide.
All of us *say cheese*
Our major pillar of support: a very tolerant wife, a friend to her daughters (including my rebellious self—and even during my teenage pregnancy and first steps as a young mother); an inspiration to her sons; and a playmate to her grandchild. “Mama Ayomide”, as friends fondly call her, is a wonderful woman to her family. I could brag of the specific achievements she has motivated in us all, but this is not the time or place.
Salute to my GrandMa… Happy Birthday Gwanma
But her support is not to her family alone. To her friends, she is a constant caregiver; a woman never weary of counseling the troubled, taking her time to clarify each point; foregoing her own needs to provide comfort. I write of a woman who seeks out ways to help her people, silently imprinting her feet in the sands of time.
And even towards outsiders, Mama Ayomide has a heart of gold; opening her hearth and home to strangers unselfishly. Mama Ayomide who would bring home the homeless and feed the hungry. Mama Ayomide who invited in a stranded Cameroonian woman into her kitchen without suspicion—surely, it must have been an angel come to share in my mother’s well-known hospitality, for the Cameroonian disappeared two days later without trace!
I write of my mother. I couldn’t have asked for a better person.
It is her birthday, today, and I appreciate an amazing woman who lives life for her husband, children, friends and strangers.
Happy Birthday, Maami!
SheCrownLita 