Silhouette

Life was a fast lane where changes in her small town were evident. For many, each day was a chance to see what the catch out at sea would be like. On their dugout canoes, the islanders, especially the menfolk, would go out at dawn, while the women would clean and weed the gardens and harvest vegetables for dinner.

It was a chore at dawn and dusk in the village setting.

Jayne was no exception, as she had to make ends meet for her small family of four. Pain and fear dragged her into the pitch-black velvet life of silence. But despite many eyes interrogating each other behind her back, life was a paradise for her lonely life.

The joy of her life was the fruit of her womb. Though the scars on their faces were evident, it gave her strength to bury the past and walk boldly into the future.

Today, she works as a committed teacher. Her hard work has paid off. She smiles, for the boys are now young adults. The eldest helps out to put food on the table while she attends to the needs of her 86-year-old father and her baby son, who is in his second year at university, studying Information Services. Even though she conceals the strain and struggles of a single parent, those closest and dearest to her know the weight.

Shadows of fear may daily creep into her mind, but she has the heart of a lion, and the mind of Solomon, for her strength is in her God. She seeks comfort in daily speaking to her God in prayer.

Her life is one she hopes will be an encouragement to the upcoming generation of her beautiful island home. A life to inspire and mould the many single parents out there. For it is the innermost thoughts that build or break one.

For Jayne, she has chosen to triumph over her broken marriage and bring up her children with the help of family and friends, but most of all, her God.

Her life is a path of uncertainty at times, but that is no reason why she shouldn't face each day as a new day with its challenges or find means and ways to get around the obstacles in life.

Life in the fast lane is a life where the mind must be sober to avoid the arrows of life where fame, greed, and prestige reign. Money is the game in this corrupted world. Money kills, it breaks up the walls of unity and love at home, and it makes the heart and mind wander after worldly desires.

For Jayne, life is a continuous process where life and its pain have made her gain inner peace to stand up tall as a single mother. Out of the darkness, one can find light, and out of the mud, a lotus flower blooms in her life today.