“No matter how far we come, our parents are always in us.”-Brad Meltzer

It’s 12 :  00 PM on day 1718 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,  read Joel 3, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing  –Abalone shells are the earliest known containers. In Blombos Cave in South Africa, scientists found evidence that as long as 100,000 years ago the cave’s inhabitants had stored a paste of ground ocher and other ingredients, used as decorative paint, in abalone shells.  – feed myself a peanut butter and banana sandwich  for breakfast, watched a few episodes of Oprah’s new shows – I LOVE LOVE LOVE what Bishop T.D. Jakes said those who can’t be broken can’t be blessed it’s so true some of the greatest blessings in my life has come as a result of my brokenness –    and promote my Educate Generations campaign– $3 000 raised so far (thanks again everyone ) .

Yesterday after reading What my parents taught me about parenting :: a new series by Sarah Bessey I was inspired to write down some of the lessons that my parents have taught me. Take a look:

Lessons I Learned From My Parents

From my father I learned:

1. Self-acceptance
2. Humility (my father always says the people who have money don’t go around telling people they have money)
3. The value of money (from a very young age my father taught me and my siblings the importance of saving and perhaps because of that I don’t spend a lot of money on clothes, make-up or the latest gadgets (I do spend money on healthy food, books and other people [if I truly believe that money can help someone in need in some way I will gladly beg and borrow to make sure they have it]))

From my mother I learned:

1. Faith (my mother has a faith in God that is off-the-charts it’s really incredible to witness sometimes I think she could put Catholic nuns to shame LOL)
2. Love (I know I didn’t turn out exactly  the way my mother thought (and maybe even hoped) I would but she loves me anyway)
3. Strength (I will never forget sitting in our car waiting to be admitted into the hospital for my back surgery I asked my mother am I going to die? to which she replied in her mother tongue of Malayalam no, my daughter, no looking back I realize there was no way on earth she could have known what would happen but she called on a strength somewhere in herself and told me what she knew I needed to hear)   
4. It’s never too late to learn something new (my mother learned how to drive in her mid-30s now she can go anywhere by herself I’m so proud of her)

To mommy and daddy (if you are reading this): Thank you so much for all that you have done (and continue to do) for me everything that I am (and ever will be) I owe to God and the two of you.