Chasing Greatness :A Journey Of Hope

chapter one:(miracle)

My mom was a very beautiful woman, named after her grandmother, Osas. She came from a large family-her father had two wives. Her mother, the first wife, gave birth to ten children, while the second wife had eight. Life in their household was filled with daily fights and endless battles, especially between the two wives and their children.

Being the youngest of her mother's children, my mom had to fight hard to survive in a family divided by poverty and conflict. By the time she was 17, she met my dad, the only son of another struggling family. They fell deeply in love, and soon after, she became pregnant with me at just 18 years old.

When her family found out, they were furious. They sent her out of the house and demanded that she abort the pregnancy. Despite the pressure and the drugs she was forced to take, I held on and refused to leave her womb. It was an incredibly difficult time for her. She was so young, her family was poor, and now she had no choice but to drop out of secondary school. With nowhere else to go, she decided to move in with my dad.
When my mom moved in with my dad, he was still very young-just 23, with nothing but loving parents and six other sisters. He was struggling to survive, but he did everything he could to take care of my mom. There wasn't even a bed in their home, so my dad had to beg his mom for a bed and a few other essentials. She was a kind-hearted woman who loved her son dearly and was excited about her grandchild. She did everything she could to support them.

My parents worked so hard to survive those nine months until I was finally born-a beautiful daughter who looked so much like my dad. I was named Miracle because my birth was not easy; it was a miraculous journey. My mom labored for days before I arrived. Everyone was overjoyed, especially my grandmother, but there was one big problem-there was no money to discharge my mom from the hospital.

In the end, my mom and dad had no choice but to escape from the hospital, and unfortunately, my grandmother was arrested for helping them. After my grandma was arrested for not being able to pay the hospital bills, she was asked to work for the hospital for several days as compensation since there was no money. Meanwhile, my dad went out to beg his friends for help. Eventually, he managed to gather enough money to settle the debt.

Later on, my dad was introduced to a business opportunity: digging boreholes. We lived in Benin City, Edo State-the heartbeat of Nigeria-and digging boreholes was a common trade there. However, the competition was tough, and finding clients was not easy. Despite the challenges, my dad worked tirelessly to provide for us.

Around this time, my mom became pregnant with her second child-my sister. Life was slightly better than it had been during her first pregnancy, but there were still struggles. One issue that would later impact my parents' relationship was my dad's love for women-a habit that, over time, strained the bond between them.