Dr. Hossam Badrawi Official Website
Me and Seven Women
Hossam badrawi
In the month of women, and Mother’s Day, I wrote an article in 2021 called “Me and Four Women”, and in 2022 the article was titled “Me and Six Women”, in this year I added the seventh: my granddaughter, as the best crown on my head.
I’m sure that every reader can find someone who resembles them in their lives.
I’ll start with the second woman and leave the first for the end of the article:
The second woman is every mother of this generation that we criticise as older generation. I look around me , and I find them on the contrary to what is said. I see them even better than our generation , those young Women take care of their homes, support their families, work tirelessly day and night, spend, raise, discuss, study, and prepare the family’s food, clothes, and school supplies.
They go to their children’s practices, performances, and private lessons while performing their job to contribute to the family’s expenses. They are the same ones who carry and give birth, breastfeed, and stay up all night, day after day, hour after hour. Mothers of this generation are heroes in my opinion.
The third woman is every daughter and my daughter is an example. I have always called her “My Happy Thoughts” because she is an optimistic, smiling, and beautiful woman inside and out. However, at the age of twenty-five, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, the most severe form of the disease. Within few months, the disease progressed, and her body became entirely deprived of the insulin necessary for her life’s activity, and energy. This disease required a drastic change in lifestyle, continuous treatment, injections, monitoring, and changing the type and quality of food.
Suddenly, my daughter, who is a wife, mother of three children, and a working woman, needed to shape her life anew. I saw her, in her youth , entering an era that she was not prepared for at all, amid the responsibilities of her life that she takes seriously and . She did not stop teaching children , in fact, she is a distinguished teacher. She goes to physical training, music lessons, and attends every activity at her children’s school. She reads with them, fills her family’s life with joy and pleasure.
Looking at her, I say how proud I am . She deserves to be an example for many in society. She did not give up, nor did she collapse. She faced the challenge with a smile and won with determination. No one around her feels any burden or moments of sadness and fear that she must have gone through or still goes through.
And why am I writing about her? I write because, everywhere, there are young women like her. The incidence of diabetes in Egypt is very high, and its complications can be seen in patients every day. There are thousands like my daughter, and they must take their lives into their own hands. They should not despair or give up; they should know that will, knowledge, and seriousness make them heroes, role models, and highest examples.
My daughter and all mothers like her deserve pride and appreciation.
The Fourth Lady is my wife and every devoted wife.
Every mother loves her children, protects them, cares for them, and gives to them without expecting anything in return or recognition of her kindness. This is what makes her a mother. But my wife has blended her motherhood with a friendship with her children, effortlessly and without pressure, creating a effective human presence in their lives based on their desires, happiness, and longing.
I and both our children , the first thing that comes to mind after a long day at work or a happy or painful event, is to contact her and hear her voice because she is the safety without words, a corner of comfort and reassurance without noise, and a space for freedom in expressing themselves without fear of judgment or shame.
I tell her that this is her greatest achievement in life because they themselves are balanced, their lives are straight, their behaviour is beautiful, and their relationships with others are excellent. This is the result of her continuous love, which formed their conscience and filled their hearts with tenderness, giving each of them the opportunity to show their best qualities.
And when grandchildren came to us, birds singing in the sky of our lives, giving it a new kind of happiness that we had never known before, she became an exceptional grandmother, with tenderness, knowledge, presence, and responsibility, without unnecessary interference, but with ardent love and overflowing emotions that put a new priority in our lives.
As a husband and father, I understand her role in my life and my children’s lives, and I know that a large part of God’s blessing on me and my children is due to her love, which guided them to be that beautiful towards me & her and to deepen their respect for themselves. I love you, thank you, and respect you.
The Fifth Lady is my friend and every true friend…The wise, close, and advising friend. Friendship with women is of great and noble value if you only knew why. Although friendship in general is based on love and peace of mind, the beautiful aspect of friendship with a woman is that there is no blame or need for justification for an action or absence.
Friendship with women gets rid of the pressures of marriage, and it can be shared without obligation, but to be as you are, to be yourslf. In such friendship, time is relative; years may pass, and once you meet a friend as if it were yesterday, and there will be no blame or reproach. In friendship, there is joy without cost, support without a price, trust that is not tested at every moment, and love that does not need a test to prove it.
Anyone who has a female friend should enjoy the friendship, its joy, appreciation, and freedom with purity and respect for its boundaries.
The Sixth Lady is the sister…
My sister is the strong and supportive . When a sister is affectionate, friendly, and passionate like mine, then God has granted me temporal support. What about when she is also a scholar, strong, and exceptional physician, who cares for the mother, siblings, children, grandchildren, and husband at all times and in every situation?
She has an impact on everyone’s life in the family, and her presence is unparalleled ,not only for her small family, but for all our children and grandchildren. She is always present, influential at all times, their physician and guardian . She is the first to come to mind whenever any mother in the family worries about her children.
She is the supportive wall for every small family in our big family, not only because of her expertise but also because of the tranquility of the heart. The surprising thing is that she remains their physician and beloved no matter how tall or old they become.
She is my sister, my first friend, and my shepherdess throughout the years. Oh, what an iron woman she is.
The Sixth one is the granddaughter. My granddaughter, the cheerful and comforting one, who gives life a new taste and flavor that a person cannot feel until he becomes a grandfather. I admire her growth, notice her maturity, watch with admiration the expansion of her abilities, and I am proud of her achievements in school as if life began anew with me.
My granddaughter is a gift from God that He granted me, and to every grandpa, with the hope and energy, giving to us, happiness, peace, and another way to experience life, without pressure and while enjoying our time with her.
My granddaughter is my gift from God and for every I keep her for every grandpa,
as she gives me renewed life and energy.
As for the first lady, she is truly the lady of all ladies: the dearest, closest, and most important to my mind, soul, and being…
She is my mother.
How could this mother be the dreamy music in our lives without noise, and without ever asking anything from any of us? She is the source of love, affection, joy, and commitment among us. Without interference in any of our affairs, she was able to be an active participant in each of our lives. She made her love for our father, may Allah have mercy on him, a model for every wife in the family, and made her conviction and peace infiltrate our souls.
Without request or demand, she made our turning around her a pleasure, joy, and security.
This is my beautiful mother, indeed the most beautiful in the family – with her grace, elegance, silence, and smile.
I love you, mother, and miss you. I admire in you the message of calmness and acceptance , which you spread effortlessly between us. I love in you the patience and love that you give, and your understanding over the years without complaint or moaning. You, mother, were and still are the inspiration for our souls, shining your light sustainably, with a gesture or even silence, or a smile.
I do not write a poem about my mother now, I just describe what is in her as it is, and my words do not do her justice.
We seek her but she does not ask us, and when we meet her, she quenches our thirst with her smile, without blame or admonition for those who are late or do not come.
Every mother is very special for her kids , but mine was an exceptional human being.
Seven examples of ladies in my life and probably like them in each of your lives that we should church and appreciate “
