Hello everyone in the hive blockchain. I hope you're all doing well and enjoying the weather wherever you are. Welcome to my blog.
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Today is the 23rd of December, and that means we have two days until Christmas. So you still have the whole of tomorrow to buy your Christmas chicken, decorations, food, and all. Christmas is a festive period, and I'm sure you don't want to sacrifice the fun, love, memories, and family time for anything else.
It is funny that some people still don't know what to wear on Christmas day (people like me). After about one or 3 days of not checking WhatsApp, I decided to check it out and see if anything useful pops up. Nothing much, I was just surprised to see that more than half of my contacts are complaining about not having clothes and shoes to wear on Christmas day.
Actually, in a way, I'm not surprised that lots of people are complaining. Even some of my friends in the neoxian city are complaining about this exact thing.
Gone are those days when our parents took care of everything about Christmas. They'd give us clothes, shoes, and shiny wristwatches. But now, it is up to us to settle those things. Christmas should be all about enjoyment, but it seems my country is against people enjoying this festive period. The country’s economy is so bad, everything is just tight. The price of items sky rocketed. Just last year, I bought live chicken for five thousand nairas (#5000), today, I was surprised to know that the same live chicken that I bought for 5k last year is now 11k.
Christmas is a period for fun, life, and enjoyment, I just hope one way or the other things will be good.
MY BEST CHRISTMAS MEMORY
I sat down on my couch to think about this question. I needed to think. I have lots of Christmas memories and choosing the best out of them all is not an easy task. Just when I started thinking, a flood of memories got in my head, sweet memories indeed.
Childhood memories are the best, and I traced my best Christmas memory to when I was a child. I had just gotten into high school at that time- I was pretty young. Every December, my mom and I used to visit my grandmother who lived in a different state. It was like a family tradition to visit my grandmother every December. But that year, my grandmother called and told us she'd come over for Christmas instead. We used to travel to my grandmother’s place by train. It wasn't the fastest means of transportation, but it was comfortable and I liked it. But that year was different, I was sad that I wouldn't be traveling to my Grandmother’s place that December, little did I know that it was all for the best.
My siblings and I were always happy every time my grandmother visited. Because we get to play and visit my friends and our parents dare not lay their hands on us. Our grandmother always protected us. Although I didn't visit any fancy restaurants or amusement parks that Christmas, I still enjoyed myself at home with my family. That Christmas was all about family.
My mom used to give us (my siblings and I ) our Christmas clothes and gifts a day before Christmas (December 24). I can't remember what my clothes look like, but I remember my gift- A green bicycle. I had been disturbing my mom for a bicycle all year, I was really happy when she gave me one as my Christmas gift. That was when the fun started.
A lot of family members visited, and the house was a full one. I saw faces I had never seen. I grew up in a catholic home and I've never missed a Christmas and New year’s eve celebration. We always celebrate Christmas and new year's eve in church and that year was no different, it was better (the best, maybe?). The family car couldn't contain us, or my dad would have to drive 5 or six times. So we decided to trek to church. A 15-minute walk, no big deal. We did it as a big family. It was really fun.
When we got to the church, everywhere was bright. The decorators did a good job and they clearly depicted “a beautiful Christmas”. I was a member of the Holy Childhood Association (an association for kids) and I remember that was the year we sang “silent night” in front of the church. We switched off all the lights and each of us held a candle as we sang beautifully and solemnly. That was the only time I ever participated in a Christmas-related thing. After about 3 hours, we all went home the way we came.
One thing about grandmothers is that they'll always do anything to take good care of their grandchildren. Those were the days when things were very cheap. My mom had bought about 6 live chickens, but my grandmother still bought an extra 2 (big ones) for her grandchildren. The cooking started very early in the morning. My mom and the other women in the family did the cooking. The kids were there to assist them. Operation assists with something and get fried chicken as a tip. My cousins and I stayed in the kitchen throughout, we assisted them with little tasks and they gave us small slices of fried chicken as a tip.
Christmas food always tastes different. That year’s jollof of rice and chicken was delicious. Very delicious. They cooked it using firewood, and believe me when I tell you the taste of jollof rice is sweeter when cooked by firewood. We all are to our satisfaction.
None of us ate in the afternoon. Well, I'm not sure about this. Some of my cousins and siblings might have gone behind our backs to put something in their mouths. The next meal was in the night; Catfish pepper soup.
My grandmother prepared it. During her youthful age, she used to own a restaurant where she sold pepper soup. She still has that cooking touch even till now. We all ate as a family outside (on the veranda). We washed it down with olden days tales, and of course, my grandmother was the storyteller.
There you have it! My best Christmas memory. We didn't visit any big amusement parks, but we still had fun and we enjoyed ourselves. I'll tag it as my best Christmas memory.
Thanks for reading.
Merry Christmas in advance 🎄🎄🎄