1/9 A few weeks after my father passed on, my mom sat alone playing a single record disk repeatedly. I was very young to know what the song was all about but I noticed that she was sobbing quietly. Looking at my mother with tears flowing on her cheeks got me crying too. https://twitter.com/SteveZwitter/status/1259107123297910784
2/9 Months later, my mom left us in our grandparents home to Kwekwe to seek for employment. She promised to bring me the uniforms & everything I needed to start my grade 1. There were no cellphones by that time, we expected her to write us a letter once she got settled.
3/9 I went to grade 1 barefooted, without a uniform. She didn't come back nor write us a letter. Days became weeks, weeks became months and months turned into years. She never came back. My Gogo never afforded the school uniform. Thanks to @WorldVision which paid for my fees.
4/9 I attended school up to ordinary level under those deplorable conditions. I grew up into a man. My friend bought a shaving machine, we shaved other students during break and lunch time. That's how we raised my exam fees. Thank goodness I didn't fail my ordinary level exams.
5/9 A relative in Gweru called me for employment. I got employed as his assistant bricklayer (dhakaboy). I saved every cent he gave me. It pained to see other kids of my age going to MSU college. A friend who helped me to raise exam fees was enrolled there
6/9 That relative gave me paltry wages enough for airtime and food although the work was very painful. I then decided to use the little amount I saved to travel and make a follow up on the whereabouts of my mom. I took 3 days traveling, joining the dots.
7/9 Someone directed me where she was known to be married. She was married to a polygamist. That's when I was told that she passed on 10 years back. They showed me her grave. I didn't cry that day. I couldn't believe it.
8/9 In February this year, that's when I asked my Gogo to tell me the record my mom cried to. I learned that she repeatedly played a song by Leonard Zhakata called Nhamodzenyika.
9/9 The song happened to be on my playlist today and I realized that it's #MothersDay . Mother's love is everything. Never forget your mom. #She_Matters. Thinking about my mom gave me the strength to write this thread. #HappyMothersDay
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