“Olayemi mi owon. Since you are now the mother of the house, let me give the background to this salutation. When I wrote letters for my precious mother in Yoruba, mostly to her other children, it began with ‘Si omo mi owon’. I guess the ‘owon’ was the equivalent of ‘Dear…’ . I have come to realise that ‘owon’ means more than ‘Dear’. It actually means ‘rare’, ‘invaluable’ ‘treasured’ or ‘priceless’. Truly you are the ‘owon’. Little wonder that that the first attribute of the virtuous woman as captured in the book of Proverbs 31 is her price that is far above rubies. No peer for your value.





For 50 years, God has kept you. For 25 of those years I have lived with you, and it’s only like yesterday. I thank God for your life, your positive intelligence, your resilience and your devotion to me and the children.
You have given so much, and you have gotten so little. It is my prayer, therefore, that the years ahead will be years of harvest for you. The Lord will lift you above reproach. Your days of joy shall be many. The Lord will take sorrow far away from you all through your life, and you will reign with Him in eternity.
As I have said to you before, I reiterate again, that as you treat me as your King I will forever treat you as my Queen.
The children and I consider you a great value. You will always be our treasure, the cynosure of our our hearts.
As we accord that you are more than your weight in gold, savour the decades ahead in pleasure, in Jesus’ name.