As she tries standing with the support of my hand eager to reach the laptop probably wondering why my concentration is on it and not on her, I understand. Motherhood is not as rosy. I know you have been wondering why it has taken me so long to write. Chimamanda is demanding all of me. I also want to build my career and I have been applying for endless opportunities when she decides to sleep.
Everything has changed.
She is so smart now, boasting that she is no longer an infant but a nine-month-old baby girl. She can stand with the support of things around her, sit up without support even when she is laying down. She can call dada which means Daddy all day and night if it was not so hard for her to live without sleep. Just a few days ago, on International Youth Day, I took her to celebrate as I spoke to the youth about getting tested and never letting their status define them.
So she has decided to breastfeed in the middle of my talk. Okay, one hand will do.
Dancing must be in her DNA and on that day she did not disappoint. When a group of young girl dancers took the stage, she decided to steal the show by dancing so hard the photographers had no choice but to switch focus to her. These are the moments that I adore being her mom. Everyone was in stitches and I could not stop beaming.
Having her father’s unconditional support has made this journey easier. I was given the opportunity to travel to Geneva in late June. She was seven months old and I was not so sure how it would work out since I had never left her for more than a few hours. Her daddy assured me they would be okay. When I thought she would cry her eyes out, she didn’t even notice that I was gone. Thank heavens for the internet - I was able to video chat with them and the days flew by. I hope all young women get supportive men in their lives; it helps to follow your dreams and still be there for the family.
And today as I write I am grateful for life. How it has turned out. So many of my friends were, unfortunately, waiting to see me fall. It would not benefit them with anything other than being able to say they said so. Sad, but a learning experience. I wish those who think a dream which delayed is over to rise up and keep believing their dream will happen. It took fourteen years for my dream of being in a foreign country, one of the 195 I want to visit in my lifetime, and boarding a plane to come to pass. Like the famous Lupita, I say, dreams are valid, no matter where you are from, no matter what you are going through now.
Tomorrow is always better than today, trust me.