Names

My mother always made sure I lacked nothing.

Early to rise with the cocks crow, she would wake up  to make sure that we were prepared for the day ahead of us and then head for the shamba (garden), to prepare for whatever time period in the season we were in whether it was planting, weeding or harvesting.

My family had not alway been happy though. My father left when my younger bother was three, and I was ten. I could still see the deep sorrow in my mothers eyes whenever she looked at my bother. He was an almost perfect copy of him.

The far off look in her eyes as she watched the firewood slowly disappear in her tiny smoked filled kitchen that had soot stain walls reminded me that she was sad and lonely even if she put up a front for her children. She would never talk about it but I saw.

I saw the pain, the struggle ,the hard work as she broke her back in the shamba in the sweltering heat to make sure there was food on the table ond clothes on our backs .  The years wore her down, but she still worked on till I could take over and  she could rest .

No more early mornings, no more worrying about when it would rain so she could plant, and have enough money to take care of her children. No now she could rest.

And she did. She still got that far of gaze filled with sadness as she sat in her still tiny kitchen, but now at least she had her grandchildren around her to make her happy.

Smilling I trace my fingers along the letters on the simple white cross that marks her grave. So aptly named she was. The six letter word that desribed who she was throught out her life even though at times it did not feel that way. A name rightly given to keep her going even during the hardest of times.

Mwende , meaning the loved one, and truly she was loved, and not by one but by many.

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hello. Thank you for reading this little piece. There will be more little pieces about names and how they shape who we are and those around us. Most of the names I will be using are traditional from my home country. If you have a question feel free to ask and happy to answer. My work is not edited , be kind . I hope you enjoy the name series.