My heart bleeds, right before my own eyes, Mummy, I saw you go. I cannot understand; what happened? I did not even believe and still I do not believe. I pray with time I would understand.You had a strong faith in God, you looked up to him relentlessly.You acknowledged that it was His Grace that was keeping you going and relied solely on His Grace. So when the Drama that took place on the night of the first breaking to the morning of the second finished, I took it as the biggest joke of all times. I refused the verdict and stood on the word of God which you held so closely to and which you brought me up with… Oh! TheAlmighty God had made his decision, he wanted you back.You are more conquerors Mummy, for you conquered even the weirdness and the fright which surrounds death. When your time actually came, you turned your face and slept off….Yes Mummy, you looked rested and I saw you smile as you lay in Glory.Yes for “things don’t just happen they are planned by God”, you would always say. For some reason, I felt fulfilled after feeding you that night, laughed with you that night, changed you into your night dress…, as you sat on the bed, you turned  towards me, feeling happy, as you gently smiled and nodded with admiration, you said “Thank you Nalo, your patience has improved”. Guess at thatpoint you were thanking God for the gift he gave you. we slept off...and then the drama which ended at 7:20 am. In my state of trauma  that day I remembered that the week before the holy spirit gaveme a song which took me all through the week, be it in the market, in the a taxi, in the house, in the office, “through the Love of God our Saviour all will be well”  what shocked me most was that the last stanza of that song “ or in living or in dying all must be well” followed me all through that period  until I become conscious of the word and started deliberately  not wanting to sing it. And now were does my joy and pride come from, that I was blessed with a one-of-a-kind Mother.

I can’t talk about you in few lines Mummy or even in a page; I will talk about you forever, yes because God blessed me with one-of- a-kind Mother. A Mother whom acknowledging that I was indeed a gift from God to her (Javea –gift, Nalova-from God),did all her possible best to take care of this gift of hers till God peacefully called her home. Please read with me as I take you down memory lane to tell you about my Mother, my Father, my Sister, my Brother, my Best Friend, my Prayer Warrior, my Bed Mate, my Play Mate, my Adviser, my Cheerleader, my Rock, my Motivator, and my Guardian Angel in what I have titled an Unparalled Legacy of Love and Sacrifice: My Tribute to Mummy.

Oh Mummy! I am blessed to be your daughter and I will remain blessed for life because you live in me, thus you are not dead. “ To live in the hearts that you leave behind is not death”.

Mummy,the first songs you taught me were ‘Jesus loves me this I know’, ‘Jesus friend of little children’, ‘The wise may bring their learning’. I grew up cherishing these songs by singing them and today I that I stand traumatized and confused, I sing them and get consoled because I know I have a best friend even at the time like this and that friend is Jesus. How can I forget the little Christian children booklet you bought for me, one them was ‘forgiveness matters’, I still visualize the illustrations you made as we both discussed this biblical story.

It has just been the two of us all the way, I remember when I was a kid you bought my so many games and story books of all types “ladybird series” Cinderella, Snow white, Sleeping Beauty etc. We read these books together; you would even act the stories to draw my attention and to understand the story very well. I will have to bring out the lessons learnt from all these fairy tales and you never failed to relate it to real life situations. You were different Mummy, instead of us having the normal “Snakes and Ladders” and “Ludo” games that almost everybody had, we had “the Teeth Game”. Our seeds instead moved round each tooth in that wide open mouth. I can still remember learning about cavities and how to maintain healthy teeth just by playing that game as a kid. We both played the “whot” card game together. I remember how we would argue at times with respect to who was winning or who had been given a  oker to pick many cards from the board. In this again,you didn’t fail to educate me while we played. You lectured me on the importance of a joker and the various types of jokers which can exist in life and how we can use them when need arises in life. Oh Mummy! you were one in a trillion.

As I grew older,doing everything you did was compulsory, and at this stage in my life, you passed down so much to me… sieving floor, beating eggs, grating nutmegs, stirring the cake mixture, oiling cake tins, mashing bananas, timing the cakes in the oven…all were duties I gladly did. Oh mummy, I relish those moments. Mummy you played with flour. In every mixture of yours we discovered something new. I was always there waiting anxiously for what we would discover.

There was no need for you to look for a home teacher because you made yourself avavliable to be my home teacher. You would carry my Arithmetatic textbook to your office and at your spare time you would begin solving them yourself to see whether the method you used will lead to the answer behind the book. I remember you telling me that your colleagues would be carried away as they looked at you in appreciation for a Mother who sacrifice for her child. In the evenings you would come back and time to teach me… ofcourse I made it in list “A” then.

Oh Mummy, how can I forget how you would meticulously go through my exercise books to make sure I didn’t cut pages from them.You would count each page to see that they are intact and would not fail to beat me if I had lied earlier about not taken out pages from my book. You never for once spared the rod to spoil me though I was your beloved Nkechi. Thank you very much for that Mummy.

How can I forget this mummy, I had gone to form one and lost all my exercise books, when I came back home, you took books from two of my friends Nadege and Efeti and you sacrifice your time to copy down all my notes,in your nicely crafted handwriting in new books you bought (I am talking about sixteen subjects)… Mummy you were too much ohh!!

Mummy, our needlework classes can never be forgotten. From chain stitches, to cross stitches, back stitches and so on… we did embroidery together but knitting was really difficult for me to learn.


How can I ever forget that I too was considered amongst the “Haves” in boarding school not because of the surname I answered but because I had a mum who sacrificed her all to see that firstly I never owed any amount of school fees no matter the situation you were facing yourself. Thank you Mummy. A Mum who made it a point of duty to visit me personally almost everyday with goodies or send them through any available person she could find. What a blessing!

How can I forget that you sometimes sacrificed your dressing so that you could give me the best. It’s no secret that you single-handedly saw me through school up to Professional Masters level.

That I could call you at any time of the night carrying and you would cheer me up, you would give me all the bible passages in the world, you would sing and at the end of that call it would be as if I never had anything troubling me. How can I dare forget all those years together in God’s waiting room… and that’s why I cry Mummy, you have GONE TOO SOON. I had to take you all over the world Mummy, Chai!!!!

I can never forget our Bible studying together; you knew God’s word Mummy. You had a word for every situation. The weapon you had was the word of God in you. I am thanking you for laying that wonderful foundation for me Mummy; I will never disappoint you. I will not chase miracles but would always survey that wondrous cross where your strength came from. Your faith in God baffled me Mummy; I had to seek to know this Person you solely relied on. “ I am more than conquerors”, “ Owe no man anything but Love”, “ I am beautifully and wonderfully made”, “ A princess of the Most High God”. You repeated these sayings all the time. Oh! Mummy, I am blessed being your child.

We shared almost all together, though you were very cautious. You spoke only what was necessary and when necessary. I miss our chats Mummy. We called each other every day You could call me about 10 to 13 times a day, especially if you had called earlier and you noticed that I was still not home. Last year a rabies outbreak was announced over the news on radio, you immediately called me to tell me I should make sure I go back home before it got dark because there was a rabies outbreak, Saah! I exclaimed, and asked you if a rabies infected dog would only look for me to bite. That was just you Mummy, “ Prevention is better than cure”. I will never forget that Mummy.

Oh Mummy, we had plans, so many; my heart is broken Mummy. I told you all. When I felt sad and disappointed, you would tell me to “ Guard my heart for in there lie the issues of life”. So I would certainly guard my heart now Mummy because I know if you had your way, you would have stayed back for your Beloved Nalo. But your Daddy wanted you back.

I could write volumes about You Mummy, but time has caught up with me, I will definitely develop this book in the future.

See You when you wake, Dear Mummy, I promise to fight the good fight of faith Mummy, I would run slow but steady and focus (yes! You taught me that slow and steady wins the race) to win my own race and I would finish it because you laid a good foundation for me to build on.

Sleep well Mummy and take you rest at you Saviour’s breast.

Love Profound

Your Beloved Nalo “ Nkechi”