By Francis Ewherido
My mother, Mama Paulina Powder Ewherido, is 87 years today. It is like I am in a dreamland. A mother I thought I was going to lose 46 years ago, through a strange ailment, is still much with us.
Bruised by old age and the vagaries of life, including the loss of two sons, but she soldiers on, albeit with an emotional injury she would probably take to her grave. In honour of my mother at 87, I want to relive her mode of parenting while my siblings and I were growing up.
We were brought up with proverbs, wise sayings and sign language. There were not many words uttered, but the few words carried heavy weight. If my mother told you “esherii, amrobor’evur’owha-a (unless you fall and spill the contents of your luggage, nobody would know what you are carrying), you knew automatically that whatever activity or adventure you were engaged in would expose the family to ridicule if it went wrong.
The underlying message is that you should stop it. And we did…
Source: Vanguard Newspaper
