Mothers have foresight: The case of the forced dry fish

About two months ago, I travelled to meet my parents in the village and generally, just spend time in their company. My dad told me stories of his early life that he had never told me before and that particular 'time-with-the-parents' made me feel sooo close to him.

When it was time to head back to Enugu, my mum packed up a little bag for me that had fried chicken, a small bottle of red oil, a bowl filled with dry fish and 3 apples. I had travelled with just a small sling bag and didn't want the extra bag. She and I went back and forth about how I didn't need these things...she insisted. So I quickly ate up one apple, made her share 2 pieces of chicken with me and told her I would take just the red oil (because I remembered I had run out). She said OK.

I went into my the kitchen to wash off the plate we had just used to eat the chicken and wash my hands. By the time I got back to the dining, my mum had rearranged my sling bag and squeezed the bowl of dry fish into the bag with the bowl of oil and all the stuff I had in it before. She said to me "when you get home, cook it".

I just smiled and carried it. She had won.

I didn't cook the fish when I got home, I even travelled and forgot about it...until this weekend.

I was craving yam and vegetable sauce and you know vegetable sauce tastes better with some dry fish in it...I do not have the words to express how grateful I felt to my mum when I started to cook and realised I had very tasty dry fish to cook with. I was even more grateful for the genius was she packed it up so there wasn't the slightest mould on it.

Mothers have foresight...they just always know what their children need. God bless the woman who becomes a mother and does it right.