My Grandma's story

Right now, as I'm writing, my grandma is here, in the UK, watching a movie. But it wasn't always like this. Let's look into the life of my grandmother and see what she went through.

Grandma was born in the year 1960 in Nigeria, Cross River State. Coincidentally, that was the year Nigeria gained its independence from the British Colonial Masters. Sadly, grandma lost her parents when she was barely two months old. She grew up knowing her aunt, her mom’s younger sister, as her only parent. Grandma’s foster mum took her to Ghana where she was enrolled in a nursery and primary school at the aged of three. She graduated from primary school at the age of eleven, but instead of continuing with her studies, she faced a bit of a setback. When she was only twelve, she met my grandpa, who was nineteen, and they both fell in love (child love I suppose). Being that Grandma was an orphan, her aunt thought that she could take this opportunity to try and lose another mouth to feed by giving her out into early marriage, even when she had not attended secondary school. Eventually, grandma and her husband moved back to Nigeria after they had three kids, including my mum, in Ghana. While in Nigeria, grandma enrolled in nursing school, at the age of 24, after she had delivered three additional children (that make six). Frankly speaking, grandma went through a lot raising six kids and schooling at the same time, while enduring an abusive marriage, until she just couldn’t take it anymore. Consequently, she went her separate way, taking her children with her. It was a tough time for her, as she single-handedly trained her six children in school, using her meagre salary. Honestly, if she hadn’t had gotten that nursing job, I don’t know how she would’ve coped. While considering her limited resources, grandma opted to attend an officer’s course, where she upgraded her level to a senior nursing officer, with an increment in wages. With this newly improved financial strength, grandma could train her children up to university level. She watched them grow into fine adults and now they’re happily married. Grandma has now retired peacefully and as for Grandpa… they still get in touch.