By Debbie Olujobi

The years roll by pretty quick and very soon we forget what we once couldn’t live without. I begin writing this column with an open mind, I have two mothers in mind and I can’t decide which of them I want to write about, so I am just going to give my mind free rein to express itself. The first mother is my biological one and even though she joined the saints 14th of june 1996; she plays a very important role in my everyday life. I talk about her so much that my husband who never met her is sure he can pick her out in a crowd. You see, my mom was larger than life in every way; she was the life and soul of the party; she was funny, generous and friendly. That combination meant that she attracted people to her like crazy and our home was like a revolving door of people; loud and very festive. Earlier this year one of my brother’s friends called me to say he had nowhere to go after a hard day, he didn’t want to go home immediately and he was lamenting the fact that “Moms” was gone (they all called her that). He wanted to go and see her and play some Ludo, to release some steam and eat fresh fish (she was also a great cook and operated an open kitchen). I laughed, I get such calls once in a while and it tells me two things. One is that I had an amazing mother and the second is that I am a poor replacement. I am not the woman she was; I wasn’t made that way but I am very thankful for her life and after the pain of loss passed, all I have is gratitude to God for the privilege of being born by such greatness and so much love.

The second mother I have in mind is also one that is pretty phenomenal, she is larger than life and really is the life and soul of the party or should I say the planet. The other mother I have in mind is nature, Mother Nature. I am pretty sure those who find me weird will think this proof but why not keep your mind open and see where I am going with this. I have always had an affinity with nature; my favourite colour is green and I love places and homes where plants thrive. It is unfortunate that I don’t have green fingers and I’m not much of a gardener but nature has always held answers for me. I actually believe that the cures for all that ails us is to be found in nature and the past few days remind me of how great it is to be renewed, refreshed and even healed by nature.

Balancing or better still juggling responsibilities is tiring and lately nerve wracking; a lot of us are anxious and are becoming dependent on drugs that are addictive and bad for us in the long run. I tend to take a lot of work on and I believe I can do anything and everything. I often confuse relaxation for laziness so I don’t always get enough rest; the result is sometimes a breakdown mentally and physically. I had one such episode lately and almost went down the slippery slope of sleeping pills till I remembered that nature has the cheapest and most effective cure for anxiety and even depression. The anxiety that had my heart racing like a mechanised bunny, left me sleepless for over a week, with my left eye twitching involuntarily and even fingers shaking was dispelled by just a cup of bitter leaf juice. All I had to do was buy fifty Naira worth of it, wash thoroughly, blend with a cup of water, sieve away the leaves and drink the very green and perhaps not so great tasting juice and less than 30 minutes later I was deep in sleep.

A few days later, I was loosing my cool with my web administrator and designer because while I seemed to be working 24/7 to get things ready for my online store she seemed to be slacking off. She eventually admitted to almost having a nervous breakdown and had been prescribed some happy pills as well as sedatives by her physician. Her symptoms were classic, sleep that is short and not deep enough to rest the mind and body, stiff neck, twitching eyes and fingers and general irritation. I asked if she would trust me and try an immediate cure that cost less than 500 Naira and she was immediately interested. Her enthusiasm was short-lived as she like most people had no regard for nature; she just didn’t think a cure could be that easy, plus the fact that she hated the idea of drinking what to her was disgusting and bitter. I am not squeamish and if I am convinced something is good for me, I will drink it regardless of looks or taste. Before resorting to man-made solutions I always prefer to look to nature for cures, all the answers are in nature, its just the information of how it all works that we need. To her surprise, it did work and something as simple as bitter leaf juice 30 minutes before bedtime removed all her symptoms.

I wish I had an encyclopaedia that explains nature, plants and weather to me and I am always glad to keep learning new and even more great things about myself and the planet everyday. I do feel that the African continent has a lot of the cures for diseases and that our ancestors did us a disservice by not documenting all that they knew about herbs and medicines before they died. It didn’t help that the introduction of other cultures and religions into the population had us branding everything traditional as evil and outdated and I am on a personal mission to encourage people to write down whatever remedies have been passed down. My mom was like nature to me, always present and like most people taken for granted. Its taken her absence to make her presence felt in my life. Its almost like she didn’t really die, my siblings and I don’t love her any less and her jokes and drama sketches still have us in stitches 18 years after she passed. Almost everything I know I learnt from her and she has become something of a legend to those who learn about her from those she left behind. I remember her with joy, I made my peace with her passing and I am thankful that she was a gift from God that keeps on giving, just like Mother Nature, she always knew what I needed and this past week proves that mothers know best.