“She was a princess?” Mama Alake turned to her friend of fifty years. Mama Sola shook her head in amazement. They were seated at the first of the week-long services for their late friend. The chairs were hard, the speeches long, and the food, unappetizing. But, the revelations were truly eye-popping.

“Elizabeth was beloved by her husband. I remember he always called her “Olori Agba!” a brother-in-law reminisced.

“Mummy was a philanthropist. She gave generously to charities within her province,” proclaimed one of the children. The two friends looked at each other, eyebrows raised. There’d been several such looks during the services.

“Mama was a giantess. She stood tall in her profession and life. Though many tried to bring her down, she remained strong.” A clerk who had served the departed emphasized. She wore the navy on white andco of the Thursday service.

To the friends, the late Elizabeth Folashayo Aro had been a quiet unassuming woman. She’d been kind in her own way and a competent civil servant. Like many of her generation, she’d married early and followed her husband to England. He’d studied and she’d worked to pay his school fees and to feed their growing family. He’d got his degree and outgrown his first family. Two wives later, he’d preceded her into eternity. Now, she’d joined him but the battle for herstory was not over.

#storiesmomtold