12:00pm. I heard footsteps approaching my door, and I definitely heard a familiar voice. I rushed to take a look at the date and I was right! Today was our annual family picnic. It had completely skipped my mind and felt like treason on my part, given this was my favorite event of the year.
My aunt barged in, her usual habit and pulled my cheeks while teasing me. She always made me feel at home and comfortable, because it was always hard for me getting comfortable, even with family.
I said my familiar greeting, ''sup auntie', after which we both let out giggles. My uncle, I'd say, was an 'automatic dancer'.
He danced his way into my room without music and dragged me into his circle. His cadence in his dance moves was clear given that he always did that as a trademark move. Now, lemme fill you all in.
Each year, my family holds a picnic or a trip to the beach and everyone, literally everyone comes.
This year, though, things were different. My grandma was out of town and it felt more like a meeting rather than a picnic. One of the reasons the event skipped my mind. My grandma spiced everything up, ranging from her stories to funny moments in the past, she really was one of a kind and the anchor of the whole family.
She was said to be coming back before the picnic, but since I hadn't heard anything from her, chances of her coming were ruled out from my end. The family tried to keep the spirits flying, though, and I appreciated that even though they couldn't do enough to fill Grandma's void.
Few moments later, I thought I heard her voice. Turns out it was just my eldest aunt who always portrayed a lasting image of grandma. She saw my long face and asked, "Young man, what is it?", that expression alone made me smirk and let out 'nothing' in a gentle and controlled manner.
I said, 'When would we be leaving for the beach?' in a bid to escape further investigations. She chuckled as if to say she knew what I'd just done and I acted oblivious to her facial expression which painted a funny smirk.
It was nearly 2:00pm and my family started making arrangements to carry some things to the beach. I lay on my bed staring at my ceiling wandering if Grandma could just...just...nah, 'She's too far away ', I said blocking any hope that could eventually be shattered. I put on my beach wear, sneakers and scampered my way to the car as tempers were flaring due to time wasted. Sitting near the window, earpiece plugged in, staring into empty space. I eventually opened up as the music in the bus filled the air and shrugged some of those sad emotions off my chest.
My eldest aunt filled the bus with laughter amd and I laughed so hard like how I used to when grandma was around. Here we go again!
I just couldn't get her out of my head as everything and everyone around me seemed to potray one of her exceptional qualities.
We arrived at the beach and my word, it was more picturesque than usual. The lights from the encampment we stayed blended perfectly with the colours emanating from the beach to create an excellent backdrop.
The beached looked somewhat like the one in the image below;
I was doing slow arrangements and chores to keep my spirit high and just enjoying the soothing effect of nature. It was truly enthralling to be out for a family event. I was feeling the groove and the atmosphere was cool, as expected, packed with a lot of activities one could do.
I planned to distract my thoughts with these activities for as long as I needed. I hurriedly ran across to the swimming pool and dived in. Afterwards, I ate, played chess, soccer and had a nice time in general.
Putting away the disappointment from my Grandma's absence, it was a gopd and fun-filled day overall. I decided to be grateful that, at least, I was able to spend time with my family again and this shows how united we are.
'Surely, Granny would make it next time,' I told myself. Everyone did their best to make it work and their efforts weren't neglected. We told the stories as part of our family tradition like we used to, cracked jokes and reminisced on the good times without bringing any dull moment to mind.
I would've loved my grandma to be there, but she did make it next year. That's a story for another day. I wish I could upload photos of I and my family at the beach but I lost it after my phone got stolen.
Eventually, I realized that the most important thing in life is having your people close to you.
Thanks for reading.
Image was generated from iStock.
