The Immigrant Diaries series is curation of real life stories of real immigrants sharing their unique experiences as they navigate their Canadian immigrant journey. Names have been changed to maintain anonymity of some of the storytellers.
Before I start my story, I must warn that this might seem like something from a movie but I assure you it’s as real as day and I still can’t believe it myself sometimes but this is my reality. A very close friend that is closer than a sister to me is an ardent follower of Naija Canada Girl. When NCG started the Immigrant Diaries series, she told me about it and thought it was a great idea to share my story so here I am. Hmm…where do I start?
My story doesn’t start with me but starts with my dear mother. In the early 2000s, my mother was a help in the home of my friend turned sister Dee (who encouraged me to share my story) in Lagos Nigeria. She had three kids, me and my two siblings. She worked very hard and did all she could to ensure we had an okay life. Dee’s family was very kind to my mum throughout the period she worked for them. In 2009, another kind lady my mother had nannied for in the 90s (I’ll refer to her as aunty Bee for the purpose of this post), who had at the time relocated to Canada reached out to my mother and offered to sponsor her to come to Canada as a nanny. The snag however was that my mum could not relocate with her children. This was a tough decision for her but determined to come to Canada and secure the future of her children, she took the leap of faith and left me and my siblings with a relative in Nigeria. I was 17 years old then.
A year after my mum left us for Canada, Dee’s family offered to raise me. I moved into Dee’s house. Her family was so kind to me and treated me as they did their own children. They put me through University while I was living with them (this is why I said Dee is more like a sister to me). By 2014, my mother was now able to sponsor me and my two siblings to come and live with her in Canada. I was very excited we could all be together again under one roof as a family. I was 22 years old then. Settling in Canada was however not as easy as I had imagined. There was the culture shock, and the reality of bills a part of every adult’s life. After studying the situation, I realised moving to Canada was not just enough but I had to work hard to support my mother and take care of my siblings while also building a career for myself. I started working my butt off doing different odd jobs. At every point in time, I had a day job and a night job. I also applied to study nursing in a college here in Canada. I got accepted and began studying while still taking on different jobs to make ends meet. I must admit this was a very difficult time of my life but knowing that my mother went through so much to raise me and my siblings and still struggled to bring us to Canada was more than enough motivation that I could do whatever I set my mind to. This kept me going. By October 2018, I was done with school and graduated as a Nurse.
While I was in Nigeria, I was in a serious relationship. When I informed him of my decision to join my mother in Canada, he was supportive of the development and we both decided to keep dating while apart. We kept dating and stayed in touch. The big picture was for him to join me here eventually and we could start a family. By 2017, things however didn’t seem the same between us. We had started having some issues which I felt were caused by the strain distance was putting on us. It didn’t seem like anything a heart to heart conversation couldn’t fix, or so I thought until I saw pictures of his introduction to another lady on Instagram. I was so shocked! I sent the pictures to Dee and she was as shocked as I was. By the way, Dee also moved to Canada in 2018 as a Permanent Resident. It felt so good having her in Canada with me. This was an emotional time for me and Dee was there to support me. I decided he wasn’t worth my tears and decided to move on.
Even though my mother no longer worked for Aunty Bee, they had such a great relationship that our families remained very close. Something you should know about aunty Bee is that she came from wealth. She was from a wealthy family, the type I like to refer to as old money that didn’t have an end. She was so kind and selfless regardless. She never looked down on my mum, me or any of my siblings. She was a blessing to us. Aunty Bee soon began asking if I was dating anyone as she wanted to introduce me to her nephew Ade who is a Nigerian American Engineer based in the US. I told her I was single. She was excited and went on to make the introduction. I kept an open mind about it. I soon began talking with Ade. He was definitely the sweetest man I had ever been with. He loved me for who I was and was always so supportive of my career and dreams. He visited me in Canada a few times and I also visited him in the States. So many times, I felt like it was a dream I was going to wake up from. How can someone have it all and still be the most loving and kindest person ever. Ade was very intentional with me and told me he wanted a future with me. He proposed to me after close to two years. We got married in Chicago by the end of 2019. It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that this was real and it was happening to me. I would sometimes burst out in tears just thinking of how things turned out for me and my family, thinking of how all the sacrifices my mother made for me and my siblings. I never ever believed in fairytales but my life is certainly one. I don’t know why God chose to smile on us and turn our lives around completely. We do not deserve it and will always be entirely grateful for His Grace.
