When I read the description of this current topic, an old memory instantly got triggered and I knew instantly that it was because that particular memory is what I will pick as my fondest holiday. Since childhood, every holiday has always been similar with very little differences between each one but the very special ones have two things in common: either it was celebrated in a different environment or with different people, and that's what this particular one is all about.
2015 Christmas
This particular holiday is very, very special, why? Because that was the last time my entire family was gathered together, and I'm talking about the entire extended family. Two ceremonies were held in that month, one was the traditional wedding of my Aunt (my Dad's younger sister) and the other was my uncle (mom's elder brother) commissioning his new house. My Aunt's wedding happened before Christmas and my uncle's house opening was done on New Year's Day.
My family was the first to arrive in the village, and we were welcomed by my grandmother. The next day, one of my uncles arrived with his family and the fun started that day. They came with a lot of gifts and goodies from Lagos and shared them with everyone. My other relatives started to arrive one after the other and I even met some I hadn't even seen before (granduncles and aunties). At one point it was overwhelming having to greet and chat with everyone but later on, everything flowed naturally.
The wedding itself was huge. I didn't know my Aunt's husband was very rich until I went to the wedding. There were lots of food and drinks, I even started eating from home before I got to the wedding ground 😅. I and one of my cousins were put in charge of the drinks and we managed to smuggle a few for ourselves 🥱. I forgot to mention that I made a lot of money during this period, a lot of my relatives did "Christmas" for us, and that usually meant money gifts.
After the wedding, the celebration continued that way until Christmas. I don't know, there's certainly something different about celebrating Christmas with a lot of relatives living in one big house, it certainly hits differently and that's because everyone brings in their own idea on how to make the celebration more fun. There were different varieties of foods and we could pick whatever we want to eat. I had lots of fun with my cousins and we played different fun games.
A day before the new year, my mom took me and my siblings to her brother's new house (it's not far from my father's house) and damn! The house was so beautiful. I remember taking pictures of it but I no longer have them because it was in an old phone. That was the first time I stayed in a duplex, it was a very exciting experience as I started exploring the house and looking at its features. The house opening was the next day (New Year's Day) and a priest was called to say a few prayers.
It was a big celebration and a lot of people were invited, I don't even know why and I didn't even care because I was mostly in my room, only stepping out to collect food and drink 😅 This was the period that I started getting tired of jollof rice and it is even affecting me till today, I no longer see it as a big deal. After the whole thing, some relatives started leaving the next day, especially those that have a white-collar job. That was the last time I saw many of them.
Have I recreated this?
The short answer is no, and I don't think something like that will be happening anytime soon. I will say it was a coincidence that both sides of my family had a ceremony that December, so I was able to meet all of them but can something similar happen again? I highly doubt it, that was probably a one-time thing. These days, everyone is just too busy to come together again.
One of my cousins will be having her wedding in January and only my mom and dad will be traveling, and I guess a couple of my relatives will come too, but it will definitely not be like the one of 2015. Oh well, I guess the reason why it's so special it's because it is one of a kind, having more of something like that will probably make it less special 🤔 I don't know, that's just my own view and I may be wrong.
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First image: Image by wirestock on Freepik
Second image: Image by Freepik