Dear MIMSters: How My Mother Made Lemonade Out Of The Lemon Life Threw At Her Is Inspiring

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All things were fine and none of us suspected any ulterior motive when my dad asked my mum to go visit her mother in the village. He gave her some money to give to Grandma and asked her to spend a week with her before returning to Lagos.

I am the third of four children- 2 boys and 2 girls. My dad asked my mum to take public transport to the village, claiming that his drivers were engaged and none of them would be able to stay in the village with her.

My elder brother was in a university outside Nigeria; while the rest of us were far away in the boarding school.

Mummy did as daddy requested of her and on her return to Lagos, she met the greatest shock of her life.

When mummy got to the gate leading into our house in Lagos, the security guard refused her entrance. She called daddy to ask why he instructed him to lock her out, and daddy told her to find a hotel around to stay. He claimed the house was fumigated and she shouldn’t push going in. Ok! Where are you? Mummy asked him. He said he was out of town. Daddy was acting strange and mummy did not think she needed to raise an alarm until things got out of hand.

Tried as much as she could, she was never allowed back into the house. Family members waded in, friends called my dad but he turned deaf ears to all of them. He refused to state my mum’s offences and he stayed out of touch with everyone, including we the children.

My eldest brother was in part 2 in a University in Ghana when daddy withdrew him and asked that he returned to Nigeria. Mummy was a full-time housewife that ran a grocery store in our compound. You know those kinds of houses that have shops within the compound? That was all mummy did. My dad was the one with the money so it was like our lives depended on him.

My elder sister was in SSS 2, I was in JSS 3 while my younger brother was in JSS 1 when daddy stopped paying for our education. Remember he had withdrawn my eldest brother from the university, too? He drove all of us to my mum’s elder brother’s house and told him to give us back to our mother. He said he didn’t want to have anything to do with all of us again.

Family members started to peddle news that we were bastards, that our mother was caught in adultery, that our mother was diabolical, that medical tests had proven that we were not my father’s children, etc.

My mum was depressed and we all had to stay at home with her for a full school session. After a while, mum’s elder brother’s wife said we were inconveniencing her in her home so her husband got a room & parlour accommodation for us in a remote area somewhere at the outskirt of Lagos. We cried as we moved our things out of our uncle’s house and our first night in that remote area, mummy couldn’t sleep. She cried and prayed throughout the night. The following morning was a Sunday; she got up and decided to look for a church to attend. She said she was done feeling sorry for herself. She returned from the church charged and since then, she never looked back. First thing Monday morning, mummy took us to a school in the neighbourhood. The school fee was so cheap that my elder brother raised concerns about what we would be learning. Mummy said we should stay and learn. She challenged my brother to augment whatever we were taught in that school.

Next, she opened a crèche and just like God is involved, within 6 months, we got a 3-bedroom flat in the same environment and she kept building up her crèche. In no time, she added an after-school business and soon again, it developed into a full school. God smiled on my mum; she got 2 plots of land in that area, she built a school for herself and life got better for us.

While all these developments were going on, my elder brother and sister got into UNILAG. I finished secondary school and went to UI. My younger brother also got into OAU, Ife. We all graduated with good grades, and my elder sister travelled to the UK for her Masters. She got involved with a British-Nigerian and today, they are married with 2 children. My mum actually traveled to the United Kingdom to attend the wedding. My elder brother is also married with children and he is based in South Africa. I run my mum’s schools now (Yes, schools for she has branches already) since she is spending time with my sister. My younger brother is in the UK with my elder sister, too. He is doing his Masters.

I am so certain someone is wondering if my dad ever came around. Well, yes he did but ego would not allow him beg my mum for forgiveness. He reached out to we the children and mummy encouraged us to embrace him though she says she is better off without him.

He did all he did to us because his side chick then wanted to move in with him and one of the conditions she gave to him was that she wanted to come into a home devoid of wife and kids. And when she was done with him; by done, I mean after she milked him dry, she walked out of their sham of a marriage and he was left with nothing but his own name.

My dad who had 3 houses, manufacturing factories, cars, and who used to travel around the world can barely stand on his own feet now if he is not aided by we his children.

My mummy is doing very well. When her sister-in-law asked that her brother threw her out, and he obliged to save his marriage, little did we all know we were being sent into a great destiny. Life threw a lemon my mother’s way and she got up and made lemonade out of it.

Today, I arise and call my mother blessed.