Watching my children play, I couldn’t help but remember how I became the mother that I am today. How did I know how to change their nappies, when to feed them, why they would cry and when they needed to go to sleep? Well, that comes with the natural feelings of motherhood (it did for me anyway – and of course the advice and help of my own mother). But it was my children’s feelings that I understood through experience – through caring for my siblings.

Children were a part of my life since I was a child myself. I was the eldest out of six children and so had a certain amount of responsibility towards my brothers and sisters. It was an innocent time of life for us all. Back then (I write like I am 100 years old – then meaning 1990’s) we only had four channels to watch, we didn’t have Sky or Cable so we made do with what we could watch. Whether it was cartoons like Tom & Jerry or Roadrunner or films like The Wizard of Oz or Dennis – we enjoyed them all. To tell you the truth, we still enjoy them. You can never forget classics like these, which remind you of your childhood. Even the games we used to play were innocent. We would ride on our bikes in the back-lane or play hide and seek. Again, we never had Playstations or for that matter we didn’t have any computers in our household. Life was still as beautiful and enjoyable. Actually life was better in those days.

Our mother would teach us how to respect people, to be kind and considerate and our father would teach us the main part of our lives, which has united us all – how to be good to each other. He would sit us down and tell us how good it is to share, the satisfaction we would gain by making each other happy and how much it would mean to each and every one of us to wipe away one another’s tears and be there for each other in difficult times. My brothers and sisters lived up to that part of the bargain and much more. They were there throughout my times as a teenager being rebellious, helping me cope by looking after my two children and supporting me through the difficult time of my husband’s accident. My brothers and sisters are my angels – because of them, I am a stronger person today.

I cannot thank God enough for my family, their support and understanding but most of all their love. My parents would do anything to make me happy and even though I know that, that is what parents are about – I cannot help but get overwhelmed with happiness that I have my patient and loving mother and father in my life. I appreciate the fact that people don’t have parents – and couldn’t imagine life without mine. It was my parents’ teachings to my siblings that I am reaping the rewards from. They taught and my siblings listened.

I love every one of them to the bottom of my heart. I grew up with them, even had a helping hand in their upbringing, but they are the reason for my success. My success isn’t relied on a degree from university or even a well-paid job that I have worked hard for. My success is my family – because it is precisely for them why I work so hard in my life.

To my brothers and sisters – I cannot express in words my appreciation to you and I cannot express my feelings about how proud and happy I am with each and every one of you – all I can say to you is that I love you, with all my heart, now and forever.