By 
Tribute to a loving and most unforgetable mother
By Anthony Opara
My tribute to my mother will be a booklet if I give uncontrolled rein to my thoughts. So my I will try to be a bit precise, as there are far too many memories, much of which I will carry to my dying days.
I was home in September to see her, a practice of mine once every two or three months. She was fine, could still pick my calls or from the rest of us her children, from her ever present phone. She could still walk to my room to gist with me every night of my visit and we still shared a can of drink. I left her after bribing her with a promise that I would return in October to see her. She cried a bit, a habit of hers each time I visited but not without praying for me and my family.
Mama was in Lagos to attend my wedding and came again to attend Ikechukwu’s wedding and that was her trip to Lagos. It was like she swore not to visit Lagos after her daughter Nnenna died in Lagos. I pleaded severally to visit but she told me to leave the matter. Her nephews and nieces called her Aunty Nda Aina and as it turned out to be she became the last one standing of her mother Nne Ozomma’s children.
She was very prayerful and would pray the chaplet several times a day. She won’t answer to anything including greetings when she was praying with the chaplet. She was also so faithful to her Roman Catholic faith. She was a member of the CWO, Sacred Heart of Jesus and Bible Society. She attended Bible Society meetings until she became too old. She struggled to attend until I wrote a letter to the Executive of the Bible Society to permit her to stop attending bible classes in the evening as she would struggle to cross Douglas Road. They obliged me but would send teams to visit her and pray with her at her residence. The Sacred Heart Society and CWO did the same thing.
Over the years, several people cared for her. Some were relatives while some were paid. I honour all these people and ask God to bless them wherever they are.
I cannot complete this remembrance without the love of a daughter like Stella Ogbealu. She is a daughter worth having. I have never seen anyone in living memory love a mother like her. She calls mama everyday without fail. Most of the time she will call to tell me what’s going on with mama at home outside of picking all her bills, medical or otherwise. God bless you and Mama’s chief care giver, Julie Obasi, a sister like no other. God will reward you abundantly.
Finally it’s with tears that I say Mama, laa n’udo for the fact that I miss her dearly. It’s not good bye but good night.
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