Mom, Marraige and I

Hi everyone, 

How are you doing? Hope you are not as jobless as me :)

I guess being idle has its advantages like listening in on the conversations in your head and creating a story on it (Don't judge me please, what do you do with your down time?)...LOL

Enjoy today's short story and lemme know what you think. Hugs!!!

MOM, MARRAIGE AND I 

Linda read the concluding paragraphs of her daughter’s 2 paged essay.

 ‘I am of the opinion that today’s religion dictates what we do, how we live and it affects our choice of a marriage partner. Where is the freedom in making those decisions? Even God gave us the freewill to do whatever we want to do. He lets us make decisions and gives us the wisdom to learn from them.

What is religion? What is marriage? How can two words so different, intertwine to cause havoc in our world. What happened to love, laughter and the sheer pleasure of being together, believing that we have one God who is so just that he makes rain fall upon the good and wicked. Why can’t we apply that justness when picking a marriage partner?

-Damilola Thomas’

She smiled as she looked up at Damilola. Her ‘Old soul’ as she fondly calls her daughter. ‘Wow. Such deep thoughts. I love your essay but I will review it again and make some adjustments before you submit it’. ‘Ok Mom’, Damilola said, her dimple-like smile making her look like Linda at 16 years old.

‘So mom, what’s your opinion on the topic. Should religion be a factor in choosing a marriagepartner?’  Damilola asked. ‘Of course’, Linda replied ‘God says to marry only in Lord. Besides, life is easier when you marry a person that is of the same faith as you. Can you imagine being raised in a mixed-religious home?’

‘I understand mom but’...

‘Ok, young lady no buts’, Linda interjected, ‘In fact, hope you are not planning to marry a Hindu or a Jew. Even worse, an atheist’. She added jokingly.

‘Ah! I’m still young ooo’ Damilola said, laughing as she said that. ‘But mom, religion doesn’t make a person. In my opinion, it is supposed to guide you on the principles to abide with in life. For me, it is supposed to help us discern good or bad’. Damilola replied.

‘Ok, let’s look at it this way’ her mom said. Assuming you marry a Muslim man, how will you reconcile raising kids in such a mixed-religious environment? Taking them to the mosque or church? Celebrating Sallah or Christmas? How do you prevent it so that you don’t raise dysfunctional children’?  Linda asked.

‘Dysfunctional’? Damilola said rhetorically, her dark brown eyes widening as she did so. ‘Mom that’s harsh. However, I think such kids will grow up with more and an even better perspective to life. I think we have been brain washed by the doctrines of men in the name of religion.’ She said (Standing up to make room for their big white dog while adjusting her pink and blue floral gown). She continued. ‘My friend Shola has refused to date boys from other religion because she is a member of the 'Lords church' and when I asked her why. She says ‘marry only in the Lord’ (Mimicking Shola’s bass-like voice in the process). ‘In fact, she’s narrowing her ‘marry only in the Lord’ to mean just men from her church. What happened to ‘One body under Christ’?

‘Well’, Linda replied (letting out a small cough) ‘you know we have different interpretation of the bible. So, to each his own’.

‘That’s the point I’m trying to understand mom. To each his own’ (Damilola hands raised in mid air as she questions her mother’s point). ‘Aren’t we supposed to be united under one umbrella’? She asked.  ‘That’s why I’m insisting that we are brainwashed by religion and it’s affecting a lot including the choice of our marriage partner and that, ‘my dear mother’ , should not be so’.

‘Ok, ok, lawyer. I don hear ooo’ Linda said laughing and clapping as she did so. ‘Your dad must hear this when he returns from work. Kai, which kain pikin you be?’ Linda said as she kept on laughing. ‘But this doesn’t mean you've won ooo’, She said as she lifts up their dog to put him on the floor.

‘Dad will support me jare’ Damilola said, laughing too. But mom, what do you think of the essay? Do you think it’s good enough to win? She asked, her voice hinting a little worry.

‘Beautiful piece, old soul’, Linda replied, standing up from their red-fluffy sofa to check her pot of rice and beans in the kitchen. ‘You have a gift dear’ she said, her voice and shadow trailing after her in the white beautifully decorated sitting room at 5 0’clock in the evening, wondering how she raised up such a wise and opinionated young lady. She smiled as she remembered the phrase ‘100 years old child’ from a book she read. ‘That is definitely my Damilola’ she thought.

- The end.

What do you think of the story? Whose perspective do you support- Damilola or her mom?


Should religion even be a factor in choosing a marraige partner?

Thanks a billion for reading. Hugs!!!

Oops! Song of the day: Blow me one last kiss by Pink