Holidays are always fun and the memories left behind always last longer than we can ever think, even when you want to forget everything and pretend like nothing happened, some scenes from the past event will just flash through leaving you with a broad smile on your face. This is for holidays that were fun with either friends or family, the surprises, and acts of kindness extended to one another during the holiday and festive season such as Christmas strengthen bonds between people. Holiday seasons are when memories are created which would be more than enough to carry one through the year in case we get to meet annually.
My most memorable holiday was last year's Christmas celebration, my uncle with his family who had been in the United States of America for over ten years decided to pay us a surprise visit. No one expected his coming though he had been saying he would show up the previous years and we didn't see him so no one believed he was going to come anytime soon. On Thursday afternoon amid the preparation for Christmas, he called my dad and requested that he come pick them up at the airport here in Kwara state. My dad didn't believe him because they had spoken about three days before and he didn't mention his coming.
He did a video call to show where he was and my dad, and I, were surprised, we rushed to the airport, and on getting there, we saw him, his wife, and his two daughters who were thrice my size. Right there at the airport, we shouted and shared some happy moments, hugging one another nonstop. "Why didn't you inform me of your coming?", my dad asked, he smiled and replied, "It was planned to be a surprise visit". We load their bags onto our bus as we share bright smiles, it's been a long time since I saw my cousins, and seeing them again was a thing of joy.
We took them to the house they had built a year earlier, now I understand why they constructed the house. My dad dropped a message in the family WhatsApp group about his arrival but no one believed. Some said it was a trick, some didn't pay attention to it a tall not until he did a video call to show every one of them where he was. Everyone was surprised and gathered together to welcome him and his family, it is a few days to Christmas and we will have to travel. Those in Lagos have called to inform us about their coming, we aren't expecting him to travel down to the village because the atmosphere might not be conducive for him but his children wanted to have the village experience.
Every one of us traveled to our hometown to celebrate Christmas with my grandparents, on getting there, my grandma heard his voice and came out immediately shouting his name. The old woman had missed his son so much, he happened to be the first son of the family. The joyous atmosphere seemed a bit different last year as the whole family was together including the women who got married to another family. We were all together in our compound with their children, we had a series of chats with my American cousins who hardly can speak our native language anymore.
And food, yes there were lots of food and snacks, different flavors of chocolates, different goodies that are not available here in Nigeria. It was a memorable holiday that will be remembered for a long period because I don't know when I will be seeing them again. Last year's Christmas was different from the previous in times of food, and fun. On getting back home after the Christmas celebration, we went out to different places including malls for shopping, and amusement parks to have some fun. Seeing them again after ten years is a thing of joy for the family at large and I was glad we could celebrate together.
Thanks for your time and your comments will be appreciated.
