Super Heroes | Soul Sister-to-Wonder Mother

During our lifetime, we come across many individuals who change our lives forever. Some people choose to be in our lives and some actually don't have a choice. My sister never had a choice. My earliest memory goes back to the time when she was born, I can remember my mom and dad explaining about a younger sister going to be included in the family but I really didn't understand what it meant at that time. She didn't come home empty-handed, she remembered to bring a gift to greet me. The gift of 'freedom' that I enjoy since then. I never had a problem with having a younger sibling, although the attention was on her most of the time. I only saw the positive side of it because I had the time for myself to explore and become free from all the attention.

While I was paving my way to becoming the black sheep of the family, she was thriving at achieving things in life, especially during her school days. She was multi-talented in performing arts and was recognized nationally at one point. She was featured in all sorts of TV shows and concerts during this time. We enjoyed her progress in becoming a talented young woman as a family, trying to get hold of the front-row seat all the time. After leaving school she focused more on education and took a rain check on all the cultural dancing and Western band musical performances.

After a while, she became a full-time teacher at my alma mater making me less of a Wesleyite when she completed 12 years of service. Now you can be wondering why she is a superhero. I'll try to capture it in 4 points,

Sincerity - This is a rare feature of all mankind because most people always choose to wear a mask to build relationships with people. But she has always chosen the path of honesty to keep life simple. She's never shy of expressing her mind and saying things openly without hurting people.

Being free-spirited - Looking back at how she was raised, it would've been easier to get carried away and become a housewife of some sort because she was overprotected all the time by my parents. But she slowly managed to break the shackles to become an independent woman. I know the arty person in her is hibernating to make a grand entrance one of these days.

Genuine people person - She loves people genuinely. I have not seen her rat-out people nor speak ill of people even when she has enough reasons to do so. Dealing with people can be exhausting but she always has time for people.

Deciding to become a mother - I doubt whether I'd ever consider becoming a parent with my biased perception of the world we live in; when I see people choosing to become parents just because they can and end up compromising the child's wellbeing. But I was glad when she decided to be a parent simply because of her easygoing nature and her natural ability to nurture. Now she managed to raise 2 fantabulous kids who possess great human qualities just like her.

I know she would be rather surprised to see this post about her, but people should know how great she is as a human being. So ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, let me introduce my sister - Shanaz Ismail aka Wonder Mother. If you know her, you know that I'm not fabricating facts, it is what it is!