I was born on 26th December and growing up saw me always sad that everyone forgot my birthday due to the excitement of the season. It did not help that Christmas Day was a day before my special day. There were occasions when my mother would ask that we cooked beans on my special day. You wouldn’t blame her as we have all had our fill of rice, chicken and drinks less than 24-hours before my birthday.
I was sad, felt unloved and over time stopped attaching any special meaning to my birthday. If you asked my 12-year old self what Christmas meant to me, I would have promptly replied that it was a day set aside to compete with my special day. As an adult and coming to a full realisation that it is a season of love and gifting, Christmas has taken a whole new meaning in my thoughts. It is a day that I am reminded that the way I felt when loved ones consistently forgot my birthday on an annual basis could be how others would feel should I forget theirs.
Christmas is an annual reminder that I should always make the effort to remember to celebrate people. It means forgiveness as well as I have long forgiven everyone that ever forgot and will ever forget my special day. This brings to mind how we attach so much meaning to things that others might not even bother with. All those years of internalising thoughts that I could have simply had a conversation about. Communication is important and so is the very act of listening instead of assuming that folks will take one look at my countenance and magically understand that I was hurting.
I have a special diary that I go the extra mile to pen down the birthdates of folks that I attach a currency of importance and love, to. Once a name is in that list, be certain to get a call from me, a birthday song and an occasional cake to spice up the special day. I encourage us to make that extra effort to surprise folks on their special days. If peradventure you have no one to pull a sweet surprise on, you can start with me after-all, today is my birthday and a special one at that as I officially leave the youth demography.
I intend to spend the day with family and friends in the cinema as we watch and enjoy Mo Abudu’s sequel of the truly exciting The Wedding Party. A little bird told me that everybody’s favourite mother-in-law, Patience Ozokwor made an appearance and I am keen to find out the life of the individual she brought joy (read as torments) to. Loads of popcorn, soft drinks, smiles, laughter and photo moments should also be on the menu and hopefully, I get to cheat on my fitness coach and his really annoying diet plan for me.
I wish you a merry Christmas and my prayer for you in the coming year is simply that your jollof rice will come complete with succulent and ripe tomatoes. I truly thank everyone that have joined me on this weekly journey of chronicling some of my deepest thoughts. If you are new to the fun, please click here to enjoy the prior takes.
