To Tabitha, Disability Is A Foreign Word

Posted by kenyanmom in Featured Mom, Mom Stories, The Mom Life      No comments

Jan
8

You’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a million times. However, until you have lived with a disability or known someone living with one, whether physical or mental, then you can never say you understand what it takes or know what it feels like.

Today’s featured mom, Tabitha, is a mom living with a disability. She moves around with the help of a wheelchair. Tabitha is a mom of one 7 year old girl. The thing about Tabitha is that, like everyone else living with a disability, she has no time to feel sorry for herself, and she cannot stand it when people treat her like she is less of a human being or like she cannot handle herself. This mama can.

Tabitha runs a general shop in Nakuru town, with the help of her little girl. This mom and daughter team work in such unison you would be impressed. People visiting Tabitha’s shop know that if there is one thing they are going to receive, over and above service, it is a smile. While tackling the day to day activities can sometimes be a challenge, this mama has never let that stop her from living life to the fullest and teaching her daughter how to respect herself and the people she encounters. ‘I always tell Melissa that the way she carries herself is how people are going to treat her.’ she tells me.

Tabitha has been running her shop for the last 8 years. Started out small, with the help of her sister. She now has a part-time assistant, who comes in when there are large orders to be made or during stock-take. She likes to keep everything up to date. ‘If I’m going to expect my daughter to be organised, I have to be organised myself’. She says. And not just at the shop. To ease the burden on chores, they have formulated a strict timetable, which they follow. The only deviation comes during school holidays when her daughter Melissa is on holiday. During such days, they spend most of the day at the shop together or sometimes Melissa will visit her friends or cousins in Nakuru. I let her choose what she wants to do, within reason, on certain days during the school break. This teaches her responsibility and decision making.

For a 7 year old girl, this is one child who every mom can be proud of. I was humbled to be spending time with her and her mother at the shop, even for just a few hours. Plus I managed to help them run their shop!

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