Personal childhood web

When I look back at my childhood, it is hard for me to pick just 5 people. I wonder whether we as a culture knew about the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” because looking back that is how I feel about my childhood.

My father

He was the one who was always there for me, and made everything right for me. He gave me the little nudge I needed when I need it. It did not matter whether I was by him or thousands of miles away from him. Everybody always said that I am my father’s daughter. He was the motivation for my career path. He opened up the wide world in front of my eyes from a young age I always had the desire to see places and to learn. He always told me sky is the limit for an educated person. He encouraged me to follow my heart but have the education in hand and make a difference in the world. He was a very hard working person, he worked in financial field but during the weekends he was an avid gardener. His love of nature was very infectious. He had the most beautiful garden in the village and shared his passion with everyone. He is my hero forever.

 

My mother

I wish I could write this about my parents without singling them out. My mother’s world revolved around her husband and her 2 children. She was a stay home mother full of wisdom and knowledge about life. Her doors were always open just as her heart. She always told me the importance of education and having a carrier. Growing up she did not have the opportunity to go to college or to have a carrier as that was not the tradition at that time, but she did not believe in that for her girls. She raised her girls to be educated, strong women. She makes me stronger everyday by just seeing the way she lives her life. She made sure that we were up, ready to go school, on time. She did our hair everyday in the morning for the school as we had to have 2 braids as a part of our school uniform. Eating the breakfast was a must in our home. After father and daughters left, it was her quiet time but she still had to entertain the people who visited our home everyday. She never complained about anything she had to do. She was happy to take all the roles as the family doctor, nurse, teacher, entertainer and much more. My mother was my first teacher and my best teacher forever.

My uncle

He is my mother’s oldest brother. He was the first one to go to college, an Army veteran, an educator; his list of accomplishments goes on. He had a special connection with me as I was the one with a million and one questions for him. My uncle was the one who got me reading English classics to any book I could get hold of. He had his own library and I had the privilege of getting the books I wanted under his recommendation. We live close enough that I could walk across my parent’s property and then I would be at his house eating warm donuts. He told me all kinds of motivational stories about the school children as he was a teacher and then a principal. Culturally, every adult had the goal of giving the best possible education to the children, but for my uncle it was the mission of his life. He always believed that there was no gender, age, financial status or any discrimination in education. For him, it was a human right and I totally agree with him.

English language teacher

I have a great respect for all my educators. I am eternally thankful for them for everything they did to give the best possible education to the children. In Sri Lanka, we learnt English as our second language from the kindergarten. If we get a lower grade level for the English language then we have to repeat the whole year again. That was the worst nightmare for a child. My mother’s favorite English language teacher (when she was in school) made herself available to teach me. She was a retired teacher at that time and she had lessons two times a week at her home. My cousins also joined me to go to the lessons. She made learning so much fun, we never complained about the lessons. Rain or shine we went to her home and she was there for us. I did this for 5 years and learnt so much from her. She still lives at the same home and I still visit her when I go back home.

My sister

 Last but not least it is my baby sister who is a strong connection in my web. My sister and I had our own little world.  Growing up we had our own fun times, play times, school times, and gardening times with our father as well as fighting times too. I was the chatty person; she was a quiet and an analytic person. She was my buddy, not just my sister. We were always partners-in-crime. It was amazing, how we ended up living thousands of miles apart from each other today. We still keep in touch as often as possible. Every time we are connected through Skype, or telephone we go right back to big sister, baby sister roles and we are in our own world from there on for hours. It is hard being apart but we both know we are close in our hearts for ever.