Growing up, I picked up some traits from my parents—traits that have helped me in life, something I do enjoy and would love to pass on to my growing kids. Traits do travel from generation to generation, and I am grateful for the kind of parents I am blessed with, the traits they transferred to my life, and some of their characters I emulated right from childhood.
Image taken and edited in canva
When I was a child, I remember my dad showing me a picture of a furnished bungalow he built in the northern part of Nigeria—Markudi, to be precise. And then I asked him if there were tenants living there, but surprisingly, he told me that he sold it to help train some people at the university. I was still a child then, but I remember blaming him for selling such an asset just to help outsiders; however, his response got me speechless.
He said what use it is to sit on top of assets when youths around him are loitering in the village square without getting useful to themselves. It's weird to think that someone will wake up and decide to sell off his assets to help people, right? That's how I saw it—a rare personality indeed. The ones I can remember till date are three young guys he trained till the university level; one of them didn't even show up when my dad died; he is now a barrister, while two of them have remained a big blessing to my family till date. Funny enough, my dad said he wasn't doing all the acts of kindness for anyone to pay him back or his children, but because it's good to be kind to people. I remember a good number of night chats with him and my older siblings, where he would always encourage us not to extend kindness to our relatives "alone" but to anyone in need of it. He died living such a legacy.
In my community today, you can't ask anyone to direct you to Paulinus Ugwuanyi's family and receive no as an answer. Even though he wasn't rich when he existed, he was popularly known for being so kind to people. Fortunately, he passed on this trait to me. Many times I see myself extending kindness at ease to anyone around me, irrespective of relationship or not. I guess my kids have been influenced by this act of kindness at this young age as well. Even when they get kids treats, they don't fail to give any adult around. I watched my second son try to help raise a child that fell down during their inter-house sports. I watched my last baby search for where I kept their snacks so he could give them to a little child that visited my home, and many more. This is why I believe that it's a trait that became a legacy.
Talking about mom and the trait I inherited from her, it's obviously hard work, but it won't rule out the fact that I also inherited one negative trait from her, which is impatience. Haha, but I am working crazily on this to put an end to it. She is a goal-getter who never gave up trying to get her hands on different types of business. Always striving to be a supportive wife and a proud mom for her kids. As a child, I watched her hustle and achieve many projects singlehandedly in my father's house. When I look around my father's house, I will point out many projects she did for the good of her family.
Obviously, I took after her on these traits. My elder brother recently asked me how many businesses I was really into. Today is baby clothes, tomorrow is real estate, etc. That hardworking spirit is all over me, along with the desire to be a supportive wife and a great mom to my kids. Interestingly, my kids show hard work in their academics far beyond my expectations currently. I am optimistic that as they continue to grow, it will become a trait that lives in them and affects every aspect of their lives positively.
This post is inspired by the #Hivelearners community and is also my entry to the #MarchInleo monthly topic about childhood memories. Please check out the announcement post to get involved.
The second image is mine!.