A few weeks ago I had the privilege of driving to the rural
parts of Kwa-Zulu Natal to go fetch my uncle and cousins. We then drove to
Mntubatuba to a funeral. I called it a privilege because I got to transport my
family and support them at a time they needed me most. What happened during
this 14 hour travel will forever change my life.
I turned 27 in August of 2014. I love revealing my age
because I feel I look great for someone my age, even if that greatness is
enjoyed by me and only me. So when my mother suggested she take my uncle to
this family funeral I felt obliged to say I will drive them, but little did I
know it would be a 14 hour adventure. In the car there was plenty to catch up
on.
My uncle is very old school so when women of his family/clan
are around him you are not allowed to wear pants its skirts and dresses only.
So I oblige every time, this over the years has made him realise that I am not
a city girl raised without respect but instead have ounces of respect
especially for him. This time I draped my physical frame in a grey dress and
wore a little black vest underneath so that nothing was plunging and
disrespecting any of the elders around me. We caught up on the village gossip
and were well on our way, all in one accord to support each other in grieving.
On our return at which point neither my mother nor uncle had
any intuition of driving and giving me a well deserved break. My mom yelled
from the back seat “Mbali ayi usukhulile” for a moment there I heard something
else. So I asked her to repeat herself. What my mother had said was that I have
grown up. It took her an interesting drive into the middle of rural nowhere to
realise the length and depth of how grown she is and to then realise how grown
I was.
I keep telling people I know of how great my mom is and I
believe these are my grooming years as I watch her do her bit in society and in
the family. One day I will look back and see four pairs of foot prints; God’s,
my moms, mine and my sister’s. And we will be in eternity but for now we
embrace our separate callings in life as much as they are hardly worlds apart
they one in the same. We are history makers born of the most dynamic mother
ever.
