I was on a date when I asked the question “what is your favourite childhood memory?”
I think some questions are more for us than the people we ask, maybe our ability to ask a question is proportionate to our zeal to seek out an answer and not just our repertoire of knowledge, ah, forget all this philosophising…
This guy I asked the question was not vibing so I sort of took over the story telling and next thing I know, I am going down memory lane and remembering all the little bits and pieces that is my childhood memory.
I remember that as a child I always had fear of overhead bridges because I kept thinking I could fall over so I often found myself anxious on bridges, holding on to my parent tightly and being as cautious as possible. This fateful day, I got distracted by a vendor selling plush toys and stuff, teddies of various colours, sizes, and animal shapes. I forgot to be afraid for a minute as my excitement took over and I wandered over to a stand.
I had selected a blue teddybear waiting for my mom to pay. She eventually found me only that upon her arrival, other customers had meadered to the stand too. There was this little girl crying and pointing at my selected teddybear saying she wants it. Her mom was trying to persuade me to release it to her as she was younger than me and I was the older one.
In my child mind, I thought, I am not that older than this baby, we are both babies and I got it first. My mom eventually prevailed on me and I took another stuffed yellow monkey I would later go on to name “mallam-mallam” (I even had a song that I can still hum its lyrics till date) for whatever reason.
As I told this story, it struck me that this was probably the first time I conceptualised injustice and unfairness as a child. I still don’t like that baby even as I type this, nevermind that I don’t even remember what she or he looks like. I just remember what I thought was spoilt pretentious tears.
Another story that came to mind was the story of my crush who lived opposite my grandparents house. I don’t know how the love story began but I remember that his sister and my aunt were friends and we were often pitted for play dates as my aunt and his sister caught up on different topics.
One Christmas night, I remember bathing outside on the stone that we reserve for that purpose, there was a power outage and this bath was in preparation of a cool evening and bedtime. My crush walked in with some present and nearly saw me naked! He ran away and came back later to apologise only that he had a pouch of jewelery with him containing chains, earrings, and rings squeezing it into my hands as he wished me merry Christmas. Later on, my aunt came to snatch this items from me as it turned out he pliefered it from his elder sister (and we say men are not romantic 🙄). It was nice while it lasted for a minute there 🙃.
I remember that I have always been a fashionista, I think my mom set me up with a taste for flair. I always had gowns that came with gloves, hats, bags and shoes in a box to match the colour. I had a favourite play clothe I usually changed into after school, it was a white tee shirt, mini jean skirt with a pink love shaped belt adorned with glitters. My mom had to literally burn that outfit.
I remember walking in on a surprise birthday for my 8th year, I remember the cake, the gown, the sandal I wore, my pose in the picture I took, the inscription on the cake …The smile on my parents face when they realised I truly was surprised because I thought they forgot it was my birthday.
I remember my 3rd year birthday too… That was a fanfare! I had to share it with my younger brother who was turning 1 too. Now, I wonder how my parents pulled that off because we are no where close to each other in months. I remember the night of, how we had to put stickers of my face and my brother’s on souvenirs we intended to share. It is funny because I feel grown in this memory but I was just 3! it sounds like such an alien age right now. Writing about this brings to memory all the other not-so- striking but existing birthdays….
I remember my first time on a plane, how my mom and I wore matching cardigans and hairstyle too. My mom had set me up with the hair stylist for “million braids” as we were set to vacation in London for a month. I remember fastening my seat belt, watching the movie “13 going on thirteen” on the plane screen. I remember the Virgin Atlantic sleep kit that had blue earplugs and other items. I remember the smell…I remember my first time on a ferry in London on our way to an argos store or factory, that we stayed at a location called “saint peter’s close” that I got lost one time and really cried because the house we stayed wasn’t too far from a cementery.
oh, these memories keep trickling into each other… I remember my first day in a new school after I came back from London, resuming bald because of a hair relaxing decision that went wrong aka “three crown relaxer.” I remember staying with some neighbours after school that were much other than me who always talked about how they’d travel really far and live abroad… they mentioned strange places to me at the time like Virginia, I had never conceived that but I saw myself in the stories I was told about a far away place.
I remember my toy aeroplane set and teddybear my dad got for me on his first trip back from London. I remember my seat mate in primary school, how I thought he was cute. I remember this girl in my class “Mayokun” who had this pretty purple bag with tires. I was never one of the cool kids, the only thing that made me cool was my voice and my diction. People always told me I had a powerful voice for such a small frame. That hasn’t changed much but I guess I have grown into my voice.
I remember my last day of secondary school and my first day in uni, how my dad drove us (my entire nuclear family) in this Nissan Primera car, gold color that eventually packed up after the trip😂.
I remember fainting after an exam once, I didn’t completely black out but was close nonetheless. For most of my friends and striking people I have met, I can often picture the first day we met.
I remember my first night in boarding house, the many car talk with my dad on the long drive from school, home. I remember Sunday school and kid’s church.
The taste of a cake I loved as child, the smell of my lesson teacher. Fond memories of toys I acquired…
The list is long! How do I even compile all these fragments?
I hope as you read this, you are able to smile and think back to all the days you’ve overcome, all the simple ways you found happiness, how often your happiness has evolved and reinvented, that you look forward to many more you are yet to experience.
It is called glimmer: the little sparks that fuel your curioisity, it is different from triggers. In my mind, glimmer is like a glitter that sticks to you in the day but you come to appreciate when it is dark all around.
In this way, we are all a glimmer of hope, bravery, and love.
Isn’t life beautiful with all the unexpected corners?
Xoxo,
Dcconnoisseur.
Connoisseur of Memories 