"At every phase in our life, we make memories that we cherish all our lives" - Shweta Basu Prasad.
Memories are a look back into the past which helps us to recall events, people and experiences. They can either put a smile on our faces or an ache in our hearts. Either way, life will be nothing but void if there were no such thing as memories.
Being the last child of my parents came with the privilege of travelling to the village with my mum every August, for what is called August meeting where Igbo Nigerian mothers both in the country and beyond come together to discuss issues affecting their rights, share ideas on how to further develop the community and also preserve the Igbo cultural heritage. This meeting typically lasts for three days featuring various activities. My mum and I would travel a day before and go back to our state of residence the day after the meeting.
Usually, I go to the village square with my mum and as the discussion goes on, play with other children and also munch on some snacks provided for us. However, in a certain year, my cousin came with her mum to attend the meeting. Since this aunt of mine didn't want to take her daughter along, my mum decided it was best we both stay at home to keep each other company and get some chores done.
After our mothers left giving us instructions on what to do, Mercy happily walked up to me and started listing out our chores in the order she would like us to go about it. From sweeping the entire compound to washing plates and then fetching water from a well few compounds away from ours since the village borehole had an issue that hadn't been attended to.
The family who owned the well were always around to help people in drawing out water from it. But on getting there, Mercy and I insisted on getting the water ourselves. I grabbed onto the long rope which was tied to the bucket that was used to draw out the water, lowered it and tried pulling it up only for the rope to slide out of my hand. I gasped when I realised that the whole rope had ended up sliding into the well. Instead of the scolding I expected from the woman and her husband, I heard roars of laughter behind me. It turned out they had extra ropes which they kept for situations like mine and also had a way of recovering the one that had fallen into the well. We all eventually laughed it off and went home after they had gotten the water for us.
Those three days were filled with little activities that made us smile. We would sit under the cashew tree in the compound and talk about a whole lot of things, walk a reasonable distance away from home to mingle with other kids, pluck fruits from trees and feed our grandma's goats. Luckily for us, the last day of the meeting which meant we would be travelling back to our respective homes the day after, we were graced with the spectacular sight of the village masquerades. It wasn't my first time seeing them but that didn't make it less intriguing likewise Mercy.
The day we had to say our goodbyes was a hard one for the both of us with countless hugs and pinky promises to keep in touch which we do till date.
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