CELEBRATING MOTHERS

By Mohammed Doyo

You are in deep trouble. Every friend has forsaken you. Your girl/boyfriend is not picking your calls. Your siblings’ phones are either too busy or switched off. Every other person you know can’t really help. Just when you are about to give up, a thought strikes. You have a mother. You hurriedly dial her up. Within seconds, a warm sound of ‘How you are my son/daughter?’ welcomes you. Her ever lovely angelic voice greets you. She quickly asks what the problem is, emphatically listens to you and promises to do everything in her means to save the situation. And true to her words, promises are kept. This is a mother.

From that lady who sweeps the town streets early in the cold to that woman who sells mandazis and tea at construction sites; from that woman who hawks stuff at bus stations to that woman who cleans the university corridors. From that secretary in the office to that teacher in the classroom; all are working extra hard to see to it that their beloved children eat, wear and sleep happily. Yes, they do all these expecting nothing in return.

Last week we celebrated Mother’s day. And in the true spirit of our Kenyan culture, social media was awash with all sorts of praises. Yes, praising and honouring our dear mothers. But isn’t it supposed to be mother’s day every day?

A mother is a precious gift from God. A gift that is irreplaceable. From the very first day, you were formed in her womb to the present when you are an adult, her enduring love and never-dwindling protection has been with you. Her prayers in the morning start with you and still end with you in the late night after a busy day of toiling hard.

How many of us are proud enough to walk with our mums in the streets and introduce them to our friends? I understand some of us in teenage life and early twenties would never want people to find out who our mums were, leave alone making introductions. Why? Is it because you are not proud enough to be associated with your mother or perhaps you fear that your friends will make judgements about her?

Whether old, blind, illiterate, physically challenged or poor she remains your mother and you will never find anyone like her. It’s time you began accepting, appreciating and loving her before the cliché ‘You never know what you got till it’s gone’ starts making sense to you.

In some cases, conflicts between you and your mum arise. Maybe you dishonestly solicited cash from her or she caught you on the wrong side of the law. A heated ‘msomo’ ensued. She may have even come up with strict penalties to ‘put you in control’. More often than not, we get angry and sometimes carry ill feelings about her. But believe you me, a mother does all these purely out of love and the desire to see a well brought up man/woman who the society finds useful.

Let’s appreciate our mothers. Let her happiness be your happiness. When the time comes, let her also enjoy the fruits of your hard work. Do not make her cry. One day, you will be answerable for every painful tear she sheds because of you.

And now, it wouldn’t be too hard to let your mother know the love you got for her while she is still here with you, would it? It is only a phone call away. You know, as they say, nobody knows about tomorrow.