My mommy said a Society that fails to train the girl child is gunning towards annihilation. She also said the greatest gift her father ever gave to her is education.
At a time when education was something seen as a notable investment for the male and a wasted venture for the female, the father's Kinsmen wanted their father to marry her and her sisters off instead as they were mostly girls.
According to the theory back then, the woman will marry into another family, thus whatever is invested in her becomes wasted. But my grandfather wasn't having such myopic opinions as he stood his ground and insisted that all his children must be educated irrespective of gender.
My mother said it is that act of her father that changed her life as she gained societal independence and freedom. She would often say an educated woman can fit in anywhere and manueovre any given situation because with education comes enlightenment and resourcefulness.
After her education, she got a job and that's the next thing she hammers on, the need for every woman to get something doing.
Everytime she would ring it in the ear of my sisters and I to first get the education, the degree and then a job before thinking about getting married. In her words "a woman that is working can marry any man and cope under any circumstance."
It is this opinion of hers that has also earned her some level of respect in my paternal family. It is this theory of hers that has brought my siblings and I this far as everytime my father could not meet up with our financial upkeep, my mom is always stepping up to the occasion.
We spent a fraction of our childhood in the ghetto living in a single room and my mother knew she wasn't going to raise us there, as there would be no future for us living there.
At the time, my father had no steady income, so my mom used her job influence, got a loan and rented a two bedroom flat in a decent area and enroled us in one of the best schools around. When things got better for my dad, he resumed his duties.
I am a graduate today because my mother is always coming to my dad's aid when the need arises. Immediately I finished my first degree, she urged me to go for my Masters and paid for my first school fees before my father took up the second one and I the third one when I started earning.
Like her father gave her, she assisted my father in giving I and my siblings the best gift there is, an Education.
Like she also did for me, I would be doing for my daughter.
Hey mommy.... Happy mother's day ❤️
This post is a response to the LOH #185 prompt and the May inleo prompt for day 12, you can participate HERE