Letter to my Mother: Lolade Salami

To my dearest mother and lifelong friend.

Mrs. Eniola Ige – Salami.

When I come to terms of identifying people in my life who have had my back through thick and thin, you certainly top my list as the main person. I couldn’t possibly have achieved most of what I have over the years without you. With age and maturity playing a role, I have grown to appreciate you with each passing day and now understand why you sheltered me from certain things at certain ages.

 So Mum, this one is for you…

Thank you for your unconditional love and friendship over the years, which is now an unbreakable bond. You have always been there for me, especially when life becomes a little too tough to handle. You seem to have the ‘perfect’ advice which is usually ALWAYS right even though I hate to hear it sometimes. You taught and through you, have shown me how to love others with respect and  retaining a sense of appreciation. You made me realize that everyone comes into my life for a reason and through this, I have been able to live a decent life.

Through you, I was able to find myself and capture the importance of being hardworking, steadfast and most importantly, religious. I certainly was a late starter but you still believed in me and made me realize that it is never too late to get my life together. You always encourage me to push myself and be determined which I have started doing just to make you a proud mum and be the daughter you probably dreamt of having (lol). It’s still worth a try…

Thank you for believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself!

Truly grateful for all the sacrifices you made just to make sure my brother and I are okay and never lacked anything, or felt any void. It’s amazing how far your prayers have protected us and kept us going. You are a rare gem and I thank you for the gift of life that you blessed me with. You are just perfect – you tick each box perfectly. You are beautiful, protective, hard working, gentle, soft-spoken, accommodating and most of all; you are a Proverbs 31 Woman.

You are my main source of inspiration because you are so strong and forward thinking. I can’t say that the journey has been a completely smooth ride but it’s one I’ll never forget and will certainly want to relive. You are really a blessing. Thank you for looking out of me on nights out and for leaving home to look for me if I am out longer than you expected me to be, only to get back home and find me in bed (lol).

Thank you for showing me what courage looks like especially when we feared the worst. I’ve never met anyone so fearless.

I am lucky to have a mum that I can call at ANY time of the day just to have a good laugh and talk. It’s special because many people don’t have that.

Thank you for being so selfless.

Thank you really isn’t enough to show my appreciation. You have set such high standards for me in the future as a mum. You are my role model forever.

– Lolade Salami.