MOTHERly AND Fatherly LOVE

T
here was once lived a man by the name of Mabvuto, he grew up in the village of
Chileka. Mabvuto did not finish his secondary school because his only mother she had
passed on when he was still at secondary so he dropped out. When he was 28 years he
whent in Petauke so that he can find something to do for a living, lucky enough he mate a friend
Chipa who was a taxi driver and the friend made him a promise to be teaching him to drive only
on weakened before Chipa could go and park the car to his boss house. Mabvuto been a fast
learner it only took him three weeks to know how to drive the vehicle, a month later he found a
car to be working with, he only used to work during the night, in the night clubs and at the bus
station because Mabvuto did not have a driving licence, after working for 2 months Mabvuto’s
aim was to raise some money so that he can have his driving licence.

However, Mabvuto’s many aim was not only to be a taxi driver but to go back to school and
continue with his studies, 2 years later when Mabvuto had his driving licence he got married, and
he spent so much of his time at his work, that he could hardly have a meal together with his wife
and two children. He lived in the small town named Petauke, in the evenings he attended classes,
seeking to get knowledge, that one day would help him to find a better paying job.

Mabvuto ‘s family often complained that he is not spending enough time with them, but his only
answer was “I am doing all this for you” he worked hard to provide his family with the best that
he can.

Soon after Mabvuto had passed his exams, he received a good job offer with a salary, which was
significantly three times higher than he had before. Now Mabvuto could provide his family with
more expensive clothes, some luxury items or vacations in foreign countries. It was like a dream
come true, but his family still did not get enough attention from Mabvuto, as he continued to
work very hard and often he did not get to see his family for most of the weeks.

Time passed and Mabvuto‘s hard work paid off, he was promoted. He decided to relieve his wife
from domestic works, so he hired a maid. He also decided that their flat was not big enough for
their family and they needed a more spacious one. Therefore, he needed to work even harder

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and, moreover, he continued his studies, so that he would be promoted again. Mabvuto worked
so hard, that sometimes he even had to spend his Sundays with his clients instead of his wife and
children, and again, whenever his family asked for his time and complained that they do not
spend enough time together, he answered, that “he was doing all this only for them”.

A bit later Mabvuto was promoted, so he could buy an expensive house with a beautiful view.
On the first Sunday evening at their new home, Mabvuto told his wife and kids, that now he
decided not to take any studies and work not so hard, so that he could spend more time with his
adored family. The very next morning Mabvuto did not wake up.

He left the wife with one-month pregnancy, 8 months later after the barrio the wife had a baby
boy who was named after his father “Mabvuto”. Mabvuto never saw his father in his life time, he
grew up with a single parent who is the mother. Mabvuto started school in 1992 at the school
named Mizyu primary in Petauke, he was very intelligent in his class that everyone knew him for
his intelligence, when he made it to go to grade 10 he went to a secondary school. When
Mabvuto was in secondary school he hated his only parent (mother), this is because her mother
had only one eye.

Mabvuto hated his mother she was such an embarrassment. The mother used to cook for students
and teachers to support the family. There was this day during elementary school where
Mabvuto’s mother went to visit him and give him some groceries since by that time Mabvuto
was in a boarding school at Petauke secondary school. He was so embarrassed, that he even
asked himself a question “how could she do this to me?” he ignored her,... threw her a hateful
look and ran out.

The next day at school one of his class mates said "EEEE, your mom only has one eye!" He
wanted to bury himself. He also wanted his mom to just disappear. Some days later he
confronted the mother and said, "If you're only going to make me a laughing stock, then why
don't you just die?!!!" unfortunately his mother did not respond. He didn't even stop to think for a
second about what he had said, because he was full of anger. He was oblivious to her feelings,
his wish was to come out of that house, and have nothing to do with his mother. So he studied
really hard, that he even got a chance to pursue a degree in engineer (auto-engineering) studies at
the University of Zambia.

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5 years later he got his first job as a civil servant, after working for 2year he got married. He
bought a house of his own, had kids of his own. He was happy with his life, his kids and the
luxury. Then one day, his mother went to visit him. She had not seen the son in years and she did
not even meet her grandchildren. When she reached at the house with the residential address she
had in the hand went to knock at the door, but there was no response, she knocked twice and she
heard a hoarse voice talking to some kind of children she could hear the voices of the children
when they were replying to some questions from the father, she stood by the door, when
Mabvuto heard the knock he shouted hold on! Am coming!!

When he was going to open the door he went with his children and when he opened the door he
found that it was his mother and the children upon seen her they laughed at her and he also
yelled at her for coming over uninvited. He screamed at her, "How dare you come to my house
and scare my children!" "Get out of here now!!!" And to this, his mother quietly answered
"Oh!... I’m so sorry I may have gotten the wrong address." and she asked herself God where are
you when I needed you the most and she disappeared out of sight. One day, a letter regarding a
school reunion came to his home town. So Mabvuto lied to his wife that he was going on a
business trip. After that gathering, he went to the old shack which was his childhood home just
out of curiosity. His neighbours said that his mother had passed away, he did not even shed a
single tear. They handed him a letter that she had wanted him to have, it said:

My dearest son,

I think of you all the time, I'm sorry that I came to your houses and scared your children
believe me I never meant to. I was so glad when I heard you are coming for the gathering. But
I may not even be able to get out of bed to see you. I'm sorry I was a constant embarrassment
to you when you were growing up.

You see... when you were very little you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I
couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with one eye. So I gave you mine. I was so
proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye. With
my love to you.

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After reading the later Mabvuto went to the mother’s house when he arrived at his mother ‘s
house he began to look for some important paper, and accidentally he found the Bible that was
given to him from the mother after his graduation, it was still in a gift- box wrapped, and sadness
had filled his heart. He cried with tears in his eyes, he opened the Bible and read a verse that was
underlined by his mother: “And if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more shall your Heavenly Father give to those who ask Him?” Suddenly a car key
dropped from the back of the Bible. To his surprise he found that it was a key for “BENZ AMG”
he went on to open the bible to the side where the key was, he found a note saying “the vehicle is
in the garage behind the house. Mabvuto could not believe he went on to the garage and he found
it, he sat down and even cried more and more and his tears were falling like water from the
waterfalls…

The End.

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