"And that has made all the difference"

We all know these words, the closing lines from Robert Frost's "A Road not taken". Indeed one of my favourite poems.

But I'm not going to write about the "road not taken". No I'm going to write about "All the difference"....

Everyone is different in life. No two people are the same, not even twins. Two people may share the same experiences and to some degree the same memories, but the importance and relevance attached to them will likely not be the same.

I grew up relatively poor but with a strong drive to achieve something for myself in life and later for my children. Education was always at the forefront of such drive, but not necessarily 'rich'. Money perchance, yes, you need such to support yourself and your children. I never wanted to be dependent on a man for anything. You can imagine the type of teenager I was, pretty cheeky and independent.

All along my mom encouraged me and supported me. I come from a strong Matriarchial family for the last 2-3 generations. My Gran alone brought up 8 children without monetary support from her (ex) husband and my mom had to do the same (luckily only 2 children!!!) so I guess the independence and self-drive was inherited naturally. They didn't have to push me anywhere.

My mom always wanted me to be a CA (Chartered Accountant) which is pretty much the highest qualification one can be for an accountant - I stopped studying after receiving my Honours degree mainly due to having a small baby at the time and a demanding work. And I was contented and happy, I didn't need 'more'. Today I still have the best husband and 2 wonderful girls (now both teenagers), a good enough job to keep the roof over our heads and food on the table, thanks to The Lord only.

And I believe my blessed life has all come about because of my hard work, my belief that I would achieve something, the help of The Lord in my life and the belief my mom had in me when I guess no one else had.

As they say, "That has made all the difference".

I hope one day my girls will consider me their "making the difference"....

LG