The Experience of Joy That Intensifies A Mother’s Love

By Itty Okopide

My mother is my love; my world; and, by all means my jewel. Even if I tried, could I have gotten a better mother? Definitely not.

As we celebrate Mother’s Day today, I want to share with you in this writeup, five captivating experiences (some lovely stories) of people (self inclusive) who, at one time or another, have had to travel with their mother’s. These stories will leave you absolutely thrilled.

My Personal Experiences

As a child, I had to travel with my mother alone on several occasions and each of those times were priceless. My mother would ensure I was comfortable and sometimes would crack jokes to ease me out of a culture shock. In 2017 while attending the Calabar Carnival with her, we were both trying to catch a view of a passing band and oh!, my mother just fell off a chair. Surprisingly, she was resisting help and instead asking if I was doing okay. Every attempt by me and the other carnival goers to lift her up was to no avail as she insisted she was okay. For all that and more, my mother remains the most invaluable person I know.

The following people also have similar lovely stories to tell about their mothers.

Otobong Etuk, 28

Otobong is an attorney who works with the federal government. He has had a pretty exciting life and refers to his mother as ‘ASA.’ which means beautiful. He gushed over how he finds his mother really fun on their trips together with constant gists, playful jibes and bantering.

According to him, while on road trips with his mother, they share oddly beautiful and unique experiences together. For example, her constant need to shop on the road which sometimes leaves him exasperated since he usually would want to get to his destination faster. But afterwards, he and his mother would talk about it and laugh!

Gina Chilaka, 28

Gina loves travelling and so does her mother! Although Gina has always been a huge fan of her father, she has always highlighted the extreme aura of peace that her mother exudes.

Luxury buses can be fun, but when you have to stand during a trip, you will have a different experience altogether. Gina narrates an incident while travelling with her mother that left her spellbound. The bus they boarded was overly crowded, to her surprise, her mother secured a seat for her while insisting that she would stand to prevent other passengers from rubbing their bodies on Gina. A mother’s instinct, I would say!

Adewale Allen, 25

Although Wale hates to admit it, he is a ‘mother’s boy.’ He has great respect for his mother, who has been a distinctive factor in shaping his life. During festive or celebratory seasons, Wale loves to pay his mother a visit with gifts.

Wale shared his unique travel experience with his mother which occurred on Valentine’s Day of 2021. As they reached their destination, his mother stopped by a phone shop and demanded for a new phone.

Laughing hard, Wale told his mother that there was no plan to get her a new gadget but she insisted that it was her Val gift from him. He was left with no other choice than to please her!

Courtney Ogbe, 22

Courtney’s parents raised her in Ughelli and her mother has been an active part of her life. Although Courtney confessed she has never travelled before with her mother for tourism, they have travelled several times for Christmas celebrations. A beautiful experience Courtney had with her mother while on one of their Christmas get-aways was that they cooked a special native delicacy. While cooking, they sang together and her mother attested to the fact that she has a sweet voice.

Courtney’s mother inspired her to do music and she promises the world will hear from her soon.

For those of you out there who have not travelled with your mother before, do give it a try on one of these upcoming holidays and you will be amazed at what mother’s can do!