Happy Mother’s Day, Yewande
“The happiest day of my life was when I had my first child. A few years after I got married, I became worried because I was finding it hard to conceive. So, when my first child came, I was filled with joy.
In those days, we delivered our babies at herbalists’ homes. On the eighth day after the arrival of my newborn, I received a big hen to mark my journey into motherhood. A big party was also held to celebrate my baby’s arrival,” Yewande told me when I asked her about the happiest day of her life.
Though very old, you could see the smile on her wrinkled face as she happily recalled the events that happened when she became a mother.
Following the birth of her first child, she welcomed four more kids and altogether had five offsprings until death stole two of them away.
While Yewande believes she has three children who will bury her when she finally bids the world goodbye, the reality is that she has only two left.
Unknown to her, her youngest child died and was buried earlier this year.
My grandmother Yewande’s story is a peek into the lives of many women across the world who have birthed and also lost.
What do we say to women whose wombs have carried, birthed and nurtured children but lost them in circumstances beyond their control?
Do they deserve to be celebrated on a day like this?
What about women who are finding it hard to forget their losses? Do we remind them and make them cry with a Mother’s Day wish?
Dear woman, whether you have birthed or not; whether your wombs have leaped from the struggles of a child or not, and even if you have lost, you deserve every good wish on this day.
Happy Mother’s Day, dearest Yewande!
