MY FOREVER HERO

My imagination of heroes used to be always the same, it is like a caped person flying through the sky and saving the world as it is crashing. I have seen movies on how Superman comes to save the lives of those trapped in the fire and Spider Man going through the Lagos traffic to save thieves. However, as I grow older I got to know that real heroes do not wear costumes, they live among us. They look ordinary, they even rebuke you on some occasions for not doing your homework at the right time. .jpg) One of such people is my hero, that is my mother. If there is a degree in strength, my mother would have come out with first class honors. After my dad died, we had several years with her as mother and father. She did not give in even when most of the members of our neighborhood did. She is a civil servant and also a caterer, she sells egg rolls and buns at her workplace. She used to rise early in the morning before daylight to prepare the snacks and pack it in a transparent box while she prepares herself for work and us the children for school, she did this in order that we might eat and attend school. l remember the year which was full of trial for my family. My father was stopped at work without notice, he moved around offices in the months seeking employment but every day he returned home with a same worn out look on his face. I was at that time in primary school and life was becoming tough. There were days when we used to eat nothing except garri and groundnut. Nevertheless, my mother would manage to arrange it that it looked like a feast. She would joke, sing the ancient Yoruba songs and tell us that better days are going to come. Even when my father died of kidney diseases after spending a lot of money on hospitals and mediations, my mother never gave up, I did not know what hope was at that time until I had to see it in her eyes. My mother is not only a provider but she was a teacher and a prayer warrior. She would instruct us that we should not look down on ourselves even at times when life was not fair. When I lamented drafting that I had to wear the same school uniform two years, she replied, “Do not allow your clothes to show who you are, rather let your good character speak everywhere on your behalf".I have kept those words with me up to this present day.  Now that I am older, I can now understand how her lessons made me what I am. I always remember the way she dealt with hers gracefully whenever I am confronted with difficulties. She did not merely raise me, she also created me into someone who thinks that you can always get up even in hard times. I also realized with her that it is not always that the hero has to save lives in danger but sometimes it is the dreams that the hero saves and not the lives. I see heroes all over the world today, where life in general appears to be getting worse daily, market women and civil servants that rise early in the morning to feed their families, teachers who still go to school despite no wages, young people who refuse to lose hope and fathers who go to any lengths to provide a future for their children. My mother is the voice of a common man heroism that usually passes unnoticed. She is not only my hero, she is my guiding light, her life makes me remember that heroes do not necessarily battle dragons but they battle poverty, pain and hopelessness. I do not think of celebrities nor politicians when conversing about heroes today. I can think about my mother, her determined look and her unblinking faith. I think of how she also taught me to rise high despite the way life bends me down. To me, she is the most accurate definition of a hero. Thank you for staying with me this far, I hope you had a good read, see you next time 🤗