Thanks and praise to God for blessing my family and I with our little princess Abigail who was 7 years yesterday! We named her Abigail after the wise and virtuous woman in the bible, Motunrayo, having seen joy again (2nd daughter in the hse!) Aduke (her ‘oriki’ a pet name in English meaning ‘fighting to pamper her’). As you know African’s choose their babies name with seriousness, none of those ‘tequila’,shaban stuff!.
Abigail I think came at Tabitha’s request, as she was totally unexpected, but has been a tremendous blessing to her big sister. I remember when she was born unlike the sister that came with ‘daddy long legs’ she was a ‘short put’ just like those little budda, she had no neck, no legs, just like a stuffed turkey!. Growing up she found it hard to smile not to say laugh, she was a serious child and all my friends use to make fun of her, she wouldn’t laugh but she had these mean eyes, saying ‘yeh I know you are talking about me!
When she started nursery about 3yrs she still wouldn’t smile and we will say, Abigail why don’t you just smile, it wont harm you to smile a bit, she was talking a lot, but then one day her teacher called me and said ‘Mrs Falese I don’t want you to be upset, but I think we need to refer Abigail to a speech therapist!, as well as not smiling, she refused to talk at school. I said to the teacher she talks very well at home, so she said she will study her to see if she talks on the playing ground and yes she did!
So Every day before Abigail left home, her dad will tell her, Abigail make sure you say good morning to your teacher, smile and speak when spoken to. When she returns home I will ask her, Tunrayo, did you speak to your teacher today? she will say yes I did, eventually I started bribing her with sweets to smile and now she is a happy 7 year old chatter box. She is still short, I keep telling her she needs to eat more beans and green vegetable which she hates, so am afraid she is going to be the only dwarf in the family. That frightens her for awhile and she eats all her veg till she gets tired.
Abigail is our princess in the house a bit on the firery side, don’t tell her dad but I think she picks the stubbornness from him, the people from his hometown are hot headed people, the Ijeshas! (that’s another African saying) I suppose its like saying the Irish love their Guinness. Saying that she is very caring and sensitive, she dotes after her sister and helps her in her studies and prays for her every night.
Every morning before she goes to school she comes to my room and I pray for her. ‘Lord I say, we thank you for Abigail, let her be good in school today, to be the best of the best, giver wisdom like Abigail, like Esther, Like Deborah, to understand all her teacher is teaching, to raise her hands up in class, to speak loud with Boldness and take away every troublesome spirit so she will not be naughty, disobey her aunties or her mummy and daddy. Let her eat all her greens in school today and everybody to like her just like ants like sugar(that makes her laugh!) in Jesus name (Amen)
Abigail asks strange questions nearly every day, she is a deep thinker, I remembered when her cousin came to spend the night with us and she wanted to know ‘why Samuel uses a straw to wee!’. She has never seen a boy wee, I had to tell her that’s what boys have to wee, it is stuck on them. Is it painful, do they take it off at night? I don’t think so I told her but I will ask him if it can be removed, so you can borrow it. I always like pulling her legs!.
God bless Abigail and once again thank you Lord for blessing me with her!
