Dear Maritha, the I in me

So you have finally became started blogging,

Yeyi! Congratulations.

I must say I am pretty impressed. Many have dreamed but it takes a guts act. You talking the first step, really deserves a toast.

Hmmmmm! Now where do I begin???

Early years;

Perhaps let me start from primary school, You must have been in grade five when you were frustrated by your grades. You took a decision to consciously do something to change them. I can almost see you, flipping pages of your exercise book and back to the story you had to read in class next week and find ways of re-writing in your own words. You kept going over your past exercises, checking how you had failed, and kept re-reading the story and taking down some notes. I will never forget the smile you had on your face the following week when you got a B for your essay. A huge improvement from the Ds and near Cs you kept getting.

That must have been the happiest day of your primary school. A memorable one where you not only learned that preparation was key, but you could do anything that you challenged yourself to. With only two years left to finish primary school, you vowed to not leave without securing a price come price giving day.

You put in the effort, your grades improved, and came the end of great six you were position five in your class, a big jump from thirty-two of the previous years. With one year left you gunned for at least the third position in your final year but luck wasn’t on your side. three students in your class shared the same mark and bit you off by a percentage which automatically placed you in the third position. You never got the price however took consolation in that you were literally position number two.

High School;

You like to refer to these as your prime. The best days of your life. I guess it is because here is where you did most of your self-discovery. Primary school behind you, You were happy to have been selected at the best school Intown. Students were screened and your grade seven grades landed you in the A class.

You found high school a breeze and before long, you and your friend X from primary were popular juniors. You commanded your spaces, walked with confidence, and had a sense of style. You did not battle to make friends, seniors knew who you were and vice versa. One day your bubbly self was met with giggles and stares in the hallway during break.

“You are in the notice board” one of your classmates told you. “You made bottom three.”

It was the end of the term, and no one had said anything about the end-of-term marks being displayed on the notice board. Not that you had anything to worry about. You thought you did well, Actually, you did well and when you heard this you thought there must have been some kind of mistake. You were the talk of the day among your peers, and somehow you felt embarrassed.

“What were the boys going to say???” Oh Maritha, the things you concerned yourself about

 The giggles and stares went on for two more days, and you revisited the notice board once again. This time I studied the marks of the top three of every class. Out of eight hundred points, the number one in your class had scored seven hundred and forty-eight and you had come in at six hundred and eighty-five. The number one of the second class had scored just over six hundred and sixty, which was lower than your mark.

It then hit that you were not stupid nor dumb, you just happened to be in a class of geniuses. You instructed everyone who dared to laugh at you to the notice board for comparison, so while this stopped the giggles a fire in you was sparked which encouraged you to do better than average.

Mid-high school one of your friends who happened to have a crush on X invited you to the Seventh Day Adventist Church. “No thank you”, X replayed. “Will come in August?” you said. The year had just begun, and you were hoping they would have forgotten by then. But when August came they remembered and though you were not so keen you took a promise as a credit. This must have been the first time I became aware that you were woman of your word.

High school was the start of your adversities. I cannot remember how many times you were expelled from school due to school fees. It was never clear whether you we going to complete the term or year. I would however see you studying for upcoming tests or exams. You had no idea when your parents would pay the school but you studied as if they had already been paid. I guess by keeping word to honor your friend’s invite bought yourself some faith.

Adulthood

You always believed you would be successful and life and you thought education was the key. You however did not see eye to eye with your mother on this and that fueled your anger. “She doesn’t love me,” you thought. You decided you were never gonna win on the matter and went your way to look for a job. “One day, when I am married, I am going to have a girl child and I will show my mom how I want her to support me”

“You fell pregnant, out of wedlock, and gave birth to a boy child. Not only were they not a girl, but there had been complications, and they soon developed cerebral palsy. “So much for showing your mom good parenting huh Maritha?!”

I had never seen such a young girl loving and committing to her child the way you did. When you felt his father wasn’t pushing hard to withstand the impending financial burden, you took it upon yourself to back to school. While at some point you had said you wanted to be an author, you thought a degree in finance made sense.

You were good with numbers and budgeting and your ability to calculate fast had dubbed you the name “Digital” by your aunt Aggie. Your son’s condition however made you end up enrolling for Somatology. You figured if you understood the body’s mechanisms you you would be in a better position to take care of his physical as well as financial needs. Two birds with one stone huh?

Your journey has been like that of prophets. You have experienced ridicule, rejection, betrayal, and abuse, and through it all I saw you thriving for good. It is said trials have the potential to change us for good or for worse and I have seen you choosing the former. I believe your new adventure would bring healing to many, show them reason, and would get you to the tip of your pyramid. As someone who has been through a lot, you could be tempted to walk by sight. this is why I wanna encourage you with the following verses.

Once again I wanna say, “Congratulations!”

Give yourself a high five Girl. Love you lots. Martha