Hey happy people!
This past weekend was a particularly special one, first Friday 8th March was International Women's Day and all around the world, everyone, man, woman or child got to celebrate the women in their lives, celebrating their love, beauty, effortless grace, strength and on the other hand their social, economic and political achievements. The second reason is because on Sunday, 10th March, again everyone celebrated that special woman in their life; their mama!
This year, the UN theme for International Women's Day is "A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women" and it could not have been a more apt theme. All around the world, there are reports of violence against women; from Anene Booysen who was raped to death in South Africa to the 23 year old girl who was also gang raped in India and died as a result of her injuries, violence against women is everywhere, we hear it in the news, read about it in the papers, hear it from friends, see it play out against a friend or relative or worse still experience it ourselves. In the last two days, I have read two stories; one actually involved a 6 year old girl who was raped by her teenage brothers in Nigeria and the other is the shocking story of Amaka Munonye, a Canadian based Nigerian woman who endured 15 years of unbelievable violence, physical and emotional abuse in the hands of her Ghanaian husband, and the reality hits home once more: as much as we wish it wasn't here, violence against women is here and the time has come to take a solid stand against it.
We all are deserving of respect, whether we be man or woman. It is high time men and women alike understand and appreciate that it is not in hitting a woman that their strengths come from and muster up the confidence and belief that will trigger a change for generations to come. Men are meant to be protectors of women, be it their wives, girlfriends, mothers, friends, sisters or daughters or some random female stranger they meet on their daily commute; they should not and cannot continue to be the ones that perpetrate evil and inflict harm upon females.
I spent my mother's day in church and I was privileged to be invited to speak on what it means to be a mother. Initially when I was told I would speak, I could not think of what to say as I wasn't sure whether what was required of me was some long speech or poem or whatever. As God would have it, I was given just two minutes to speak and when I mounted the podium I told the story of how on Saturday I had set out to do a few things for myself: get my hair done, get a facial and stop by at the dry cleaners. I had it all planned out but soon found myself attending to a few other things in the house, like getting the laundry done, cooking, getting the kids hair done, cleaning and ironing and before I knew it, it was 5pm! I ended up making do with the little I could and forgetting about all I wanted to do for me which really didn't go down well with me!
Such is the life of a mother. We spend each day giving undying sacrificial gifts of love, kindness and care and mostly forget about ourselves. We are there for every one else and in most cases our needs and feelings are ignored. Even as I speak, I still have to consciously remind myself to pay more attention to my mother's well-being so I guess its something that stays with us mothers for a long long time. My tribute this year is to all the beautiful moms out there and my own lovely mother, who has been a pillar of strength and support for me and my siblings. And to my hubby's beautiful mother who I never met in person but whose beautiful qualities shaped the man I married, I say thank you.
Only a queen could have raised such a charming prince.
How did you spend your mother's day, beautiful mom? Let us know in the comments below!
Love n Light
Axx
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