That particular Christmas celebration

Greetings!

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As far as I can remember, my most enjoyable Christmas celebrations so far have been when I was at home in the villa, where I joined the celebration from the start, and not with this current lifestyle of mine where I only travel home to be with family a day before Christmas or some days after Christmas to celebrate the New Year with them. Back then, just hearing Dad talk about buying chicken for Christmas was a big thrill, or seeing the chickens we had raised being caged and waiting for the D-day was a source of immense joy.

In all the seasons I've celebrated, it's so hard to pick one as a favorite because I've had so many of them that were so good. However, in response to this prompt, I would choose one of those celebrations as the favourite, where we celebrated with one of my closest uncles and his children in our family compound before they moved to their newly built house.

I can't recall the exact year, but it happened when I was still in secondary school. That particular Christmas season, this uncle and his family, as usual, came home (to our family compound) for the Christmas celebration, and guess what? All of us—my siblings and I—were bought new clothes by them. It was my uncle who sponsored the purchase of the dresses for us, but his children did the actual buying(going to a boutique to make a purchase). The only male among them selected clothes for me and my brother, while the female ones picked clothes for my five sisters. Yes, my father has a lot of children, and they bought clothes for all seven of us.

That Christmas, I don’t really know what prompted my uncle, but there was a massive celebration in the compound, far bigger than what we usually had. Apart from the regular rice and onions he shared with different members of the extended family, he bought a big chicken specifically for us.

That season, the compound was bustling with activity, and we had electricity running almost 24/7. Then, things were cheap, though I know the value of money wasn’t as high as it is now.
Eating and drinking were the order of the day. Even when we got tired of eating rice and other meals, chicken was something we never got tired of, as we were collecting and receiving it from every angle.

Back then, I was not yet an adult, but I wasn’t so young either. I had graduated from moving house to house in a group with many siblings to eat food and receive monetary gifts....Nigerians will understand this better. After dressing up, I stayed calm until nightfall before going out to hang out with friends, while my younger siblings moved about in their squad during the daytime. Before they left, we showered praises on them, telling them how beautiful they looked in the clothes our uncle had bought.

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Life can never remain that rosy, you know. After my uncle moved to his new house and we celebrated the next Christmas there—all of us leaving our house to join him—the following year, he passed on. Ever since then, the tradition of celebrating Christmas with them disappeared.

But it’s fine; we are all grown up now, and those are really beautiful memories.

Thanks for reading.

This is my entry to Hive-reachout prompt of the week.

Photos are mine

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