REMEMBERING ELIZABETH IYABO IDOWU.....

Its been two years since my mum passed on today and there are too many reasons to be thankful....

I don't need a photograph to remember her by anymore and even though some memories are still painful, I find more and more to chuckle about when I remember her. As this day neared, I made a conscious effort to drum up memories to remember her by and because I have been held in thrall by this fear that I am very much like her and the Oedipus-ian (is that even a word?) set of circumstances that may cause me to be like her and walk the same path in life and marriage that she did, the memories were mostly of happier times of my youth, a time, long before my now 28year old brother who was born in my teenage years was born. 

My earliest memories are of school fees and I truly do not have any idea why. The school I attended had a non-fee paying alternative and I think this must have impressed on my mind the fact that I was priviledged to have parents who wanted to give more than was basic to me. It made me want always to behave better than any child dressed in that other school's uniform. 

Also, I remember eba....the first thing I remember was having flasks in which our lunch was prepared by mum for when we returned from school. She wasn't always there but she ensured lunch was. The other memory of eba was of the many times we ate the meat and then went to play at making our eba stick to the kitchen ceiling. For whatever reason, that was one of our favourite games after school. On days when she did not make the eba, she usually delegated my sister to do it and I made her life difficult by always being less than satisfied with whatever she prepared. I got full judgement for all things done with eba when I was in the University and could afford nothing but eba for sustenance, sometimes, 2-3times a day.

I remembered having nice clothes to wear all the time because mum  traveled a lot and traded in 'ready-made' clothes. One memory stands out where I happened on a conversation between two boys who lived in our building who were discussing two girls to ask out and the boy told his cousin that I was always properly dressed as one of the points in my favor for being his girlfriend....RME!

I remember our frustration with mum always buying the wrong beverage then, she never bought Milo, it was always Bournvita and while we managed to finish it, we grumbled because we wanted Milo or Pronto, I forget. The other issue we continually complained about was her ability to buy snacks (read yoghurt, pastries) and ensure we never got them till they were spoilt. That was very frustrating but she did have the 'Magic Boxes' from which she produced biscuits whenever she was going to give us treats. You can imagine my consternation the day I found out that there was no magic involved in bringing home a carton of biscuits....yes, gullible!

In the 2 years since she passed, a lot has happened and we have too much to be thankful for. She was human & humane and I suspected she did as much as she knew to do and while the fear to not end up like her is tangible for me, it usually assails me when I forget how blessed I am, by the life she desired for me and watched me set up and by how much is available to me in terms of resources if I so need.  

I toyed with doing a newspaper advert just for the fun of it but decided I'd do this blogpost instead. Incidentally, its been about 2years since I started blogging and this is my first post this year, 2014. Happy New year!!!

I have had challenges with my laptop and was busy investing in spending time with my daughters, all fabulous reasons for letting blogging slide but I'm back and I'm hopeful that I can brighten your days with my Random Thoughts......

Here's to Eliza........