Mama loves only one man that I never knew. I do not think that I am the man because I was still a baby. I grew up knowing Mama as a passionate lover. She exhibits love as if it were the only way to be alive. Three decades and half ago, Mama fell in love with one man. That man was Papa but it seems that he is not that only one man who Mama loves. Mama had different men in her life. “I love my father, your father, my brothers, your elder brother, you and your younger brother”, Mama always confides in me. These men are integral parts of Mama. Yes, the euphoria of affection for these different men created a figure in Mama as a confused lover.
Mama never acquired any quality formal education. As a child growing up in Onitsha, I was made to appreciate the beauty of having an amazing mother who to no fault of hers, ended up as a school dropout. Incredible. While my friends in those days boast of eloquence of their mothers in speaking and writing in English language, I was proud to talk of Mama who only understands and speaks Ohafia dialect with untold enthusiasm and confidence. Due to this assumed mockery that characterized Mama’s inability to express herself in the language of the Queen, I opted to study English language in the University. I studied English language because of Mama. Yes, because I love Mama.
♥️Mama’s first trip to Onitsha was sponsored by her lover, John. John is the first name of Papa. Mama was a naive village girl who as a result of matrimonial entanglement with a vineyard worker in a white garment church lured her to migrate from Ohafia to a city that moulded her with many untold stories. I remembered those hard moments. I remembered joining Mama in hawking oranges and banana in the street of Onitsha. I still recall what poverty did to us. Ours was brutal and I thought hunger could kill a man’s dream in life. In Mama, I saw and still see what it means to be determined, patient and cheerful. She is always in the business of laughter even when circumstances of life become hard nuts to crack.
♥️Mama never had enough money to give me as her child even during my infancy till date. She only gives me silent prayers and blessings. On many occasions, she has sacrificed a lot so that I can be a happy son. She intervens when the feet are weak. She sings when the heart is laddened with uncertain tales. She smiles when the face is squeezed by unhealthy breeze. She prays when the road seems tough and brutal. This is a story of Rebecca. A lady with inestimable qualities. Rebecca is my Baker. Rebecca was the first name of Mama before she started loving only one man that I never knew.
♥️I love Mama deeply but I do not think she knows. She is of the knowledge that Papa’s love for me is not contestable. She equally understands that Papa has made me love him through numerous positive means. I always feel for Mama anytime she assumes that I never love her. Unlike Papa who knows how to make me feel so loved and attached to him, Mama is a silent strategist and has invaded the territory of my being with her uncommon motherly love and care. She never knew that that I love her like I do to Papa. Yes, I know that Papa is the love of my life but Mama is the engine of my heart. Nostalgia. I was told by Papa that Mama loved only one man when I was a baby. Yes, I am now a man and not a baby. Am I the only one man who Mama loves that I never knew?
I love you Mama ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
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Your son
Michael