She called me “Baby”, we called her “mummy Junior”. She was an enigma to me as a child. As an adult, I got to know her as my father’s pal, my long lost aunty, and the woman I couldn’t wait to surprise when I made enough money to go to Europe.

Her raspy voice teased and taunted me all the time- I still hear it ringing in my head sometimes. She loved us well after our father, her husband’s cousin, passed. For a long time, she was the only genuine link we had to our dad’s family.

It’s my first time on this page as I have finally realized that this is real. I never gave her that hug, never served her for her goodness, never got to show her how much we were grateful for her presence in our lives.

Despite this huge loss, my aunty was and still remains beautiful.