This is my story....
My name is Chinwe, which means ' God owns '.
My dear Mama would always introduce me to her long lost friends, with the phrase ' this is that one I delivered during the Biafran war ' . Not that I understood the import of that statement as a child. But now I can appreciate the calamity of being born in Nigeria at that critical point in time!
Yes it was precisely on the 21st day of September, in 1969, when the bombings and shellings were raging like crazy, that I escaped from the safe, warm and moist cocoon of my Mum's womb and entered into the harsh reality of life on earth in the Biafra era. My second name is Thecla, a rather uncommon English word but has it's origin in Latin or Greek, if not Hebrew ! It means " made famous by God."
My Paternal Grandmother fondly called " Nnenne " named me ' Nwanyi Sunday ' as I was privileged to born on Sunday . I had a normal childhood and adolescence and by 1991, graduated from Medical College, so that made me a doctor...
After my housemanship and NYSC, I gained admission into the Higher Institution of Holy Matrimony by 1994 at the age of 25. I became a baby factory with immediate alacrity. In quick embarrassing successions I produced 3 offsprings at the rate of one baby per year for 3 years...in fact the 2nd and 3rd were almost born within the same year! They grew up as triplet toddlers. That was during the trying and traumatic period of the Military Junta governments.
We survived it.
I ended up with a total of 6 descendants, the last two children are actually a set of monozygotic monochorionic , acutely identical twins. That was in the leap year of 2008, when I was 39 years advanced in age. Carrying a twin pregnancy at that age, with an ugly gross Multinodular Goitre, I was referred to as a Dangerous Grandmultip in the gynecological palanx. God delivered me from being a case of maternal mortality...a narrow escape truely.
It was a new phase of existence for me, my life indeed had just begun at age 40.
My new status as Mama Ejima alias Iya Ibeji, came with double doses of every maternal chore, activity as well as blessings. I got two for the price of one. Double for my troubles...real or imagined.
But my joy was cut short in a most unceremonious manner.
Barely 3 months after my twins celebrated their 365th day of life, about 8 years ago, my whole world came crashing down at my feet...
when I discovered that I had CANCER...in 2009 !
to be continued.....
I am new to steemit and I hope to make a huge impact on everyone as I also hope to be impacted upon. I would appreciate your followership and I'll follow back too. Happy New Year Everyone!!!
Proudly African! Proudly Nigerian!