How my childhood tamed me

When it rained, a big part of our house leaked. Many windows in the house were broken or cracked and, therefore, had hard cardboard paper fitted for safety. When we were growing up, this was normal.
Although we lived in the more affluent part of town, ours was a poor family and in many of the neighbourhoods, we used firewood to cook, so much so that I recall my mother baking a cake using firewood, ash and of course, the cake tasted yummy.

We walked to and from school everyday. There was no family in our immediate neighbourhood that owned their own car and many of the households grew their own food or supplemented on the little that was bought from the market.
My mother had at least two jobs, both night and day, and yet, our school fees was paid in bits and pieces. But there is something my mother always said that I reminisce all the time. She always said she would not die poor. Her statement bordered on sheer madness, to say the least, and yet, she always said it with great conviction. There are many valuable lessons a child picks from their parent and one that stands out for me is resilience
Resilience can be understood as the ability to recover easily from the challenges or adversity as well as the mental capacity to adapt with ease, during difficult situations.
In my mother’s world, there was no room for whining or complacency. Things needed to get done whether it rained, drizzled or the sun shone brightly all day. Daily, I watched her go through one situation and another with very little regard for her well-being and at very minimal comfort.
The first time I saw my mother cry was when she lost her eldest sister and the shock I carried was largely because I never ever knew she would cry at one point. She never seemed to fear anything, be it darkness, wild animals or walking long distances.
Today, I know that I am the sum total of the many things my mother was, back then. I view life from the place of making it happen rather than complaining or whining. My mother taught me that what must be done should be done regardless of circumstances because everything else is simply an excuse.