MEMORIES
Sitting on the floor of my bedroom with the picture box in my hand, all I could do was smile and at intervals giggle as I looked at every picture arranged in there. Every picture held a time of our lives; myself, my parents, and my siblings, when my parents were young, my siblings and I were babies, teenagers, adolescents, and now young adults. Every picture took me down a lane; that memory lane, I could recall the stories around them and the stories told.
Still reminiscing on every picture I had seen, I stumbled on this particular one and let out heartfelt laughter, a great one. That one picture gave such a thrill through my body because instantly it was like I could see all play before me; all the mischievous things my siblings and I did when we were little.
Moments; are a phase we may make the best of or worst of. You know, that picture was what I need to remind me that it was all fun and adventurous in those times; yes you may say we were being naughty at the time but it was we being ourselves together, making the best out of that phase of our lives.
Recalling the particular thing that crossed my mind still staring at the picture was the rules we kept breaking especially the one of doing all chores, and assignments on our return from school before switching on the television. We would rather do the opposite, litter the sitting room with our uniforms and bags, and enjoy our lunch while watching the shows on the television. Forgetting we have things to do, we stay till our parents return and find the place messy and chores undone.
It was a repetition of the same thing every day, more like a mini-war between us and our parents. Realizing, we always seemed to win this mini-war, they removed the whole set before they left the house leaving us no choice but to do our assigned duties and school assignments on return from school. Regardless, we found ways to still chill out and have fun but this new method not long became an adventure, we can say a mini hunt in the house.
My parents were happy every time they returned from work and we didn't have plans giving them reasons not to be. After about a week of our mini hunt, we found all the whole television set and assembled them in their proper places to function and continued. But we were more cautious so that they weren't aware of our discovery. So, we all unanimously agreed to do the necessary chores before watching the television but none of us agreed to the tidying of the sitting room, so we agreed on taking a turn. In a short while though, we just had the right help; a public announcer (our landlady then), notified us on our parents' every return, and in about five minutes, everything was back to normalcy.
Reliving those moments in minutes seeing that one picture made me appreciate those times more and of course gave me a hard laugh I think I would always have when I have the picture(s) in my hands again and again. Glad to know that childhood was fun with the mischiefs and adventures.
Memories live on forever and making memories with the people you love becomes a greater treasure especially when you do not have them close. You treasure it with the hope of maybe making new ones with them and you are at peace knowing you had that moment with them.
You know when Ed Sheeran said, "We keep this love in a photograph, we made these memories for ourselves", I felt a reason to understand the importance of pictures. A picture will tell the whole story; it is like everything comes alive. The capturing of a moment in time enables us to remember and cherish it for years. As we never forget the tales of past happenings like the Biafra war (1970) and the End SARS protest (2020).
Every video taken aware and unaware have been a reliving of moments, where emotions are never a lie. Videos capture the entire moment of an event; they do justice to the whole moment. Every movement, every laughter, every tear, every person, and maybe every word don't have a place of hiding and you find how amazing that is. A reminder that you were part of something beautiful, a beautiful moment turned memory.
The little things bring some sweet feelings. Wonder why it is quite difficult to let go of some things. It is funny, but some items aren't useful to you no more but you just want them to stay because they remind you of some memory, or someone; someone who is no longer there or who is. Those gift items, photographs, scrapbooks, diaries, jewelry, letters or love notes, trinkets, teddy bears, I guess the list goes on. They give one this nostalgia feeling; the feeling of longing or yearning. Holding them close, you live in the moment of the past.
The feeling you get sitting around someone telling a tale with you trying to paint a pretty colorful picture of an occurrence, with the different expressions to every part of the story. Even if you weren't there, the person has given you a place in that memory they hold of something great. You get to experience the moment with them through their story. The entire history tale today, we can share in that because many thought it fit to share the moment with the world. As such every history celebrated, we share a part in it even with being there at the time.
Memories are the scenes life gave me to reflect or laugh about, smile about, and at some point to even console me in my good, bad, difficult, or sweet times. They make me feel that I have been part of a bigger picture, someone's time, or a moment that could have made them happy or sad at some point. They show me how sweet and adventurous life has been to me. They give me a clear view of the number of souls that have crossed my path and even lessons that I may have learned and applied in future times. Memories are beautiful and just engage my thoughts at moments I could just need them, putting a smile on my face or giving me a random laugh.
Someone once said, in all, memories could come from anything; from even the weirdest things you could imagine or think of. To me, my favorite form of creating and preserving memories is through photographs and videos. What are yours?
According to Ama Ata Aidoo, "Humans, not places, make memories".
