I Went Home
Home is truly where the heart is, and I have fragments of my heart between Lagos and Asaba.
I haven’t been home in a while. Chasing a degree and trying to figure out life has put an ocean distance between the people I love the most and me. Fortunately for me, I went home last month. Although I didn’t stay for as long as I loved to and didn’t see as many people as I’d planned to, it was the best two weeks of my life in recent years. I wanted to live every second a million times over. Home is truly where the heart is, and I have fragments of my heart between Lagos and Asaba. I was home, and life had colours again.
Trying to hide my arrival from my mother was tricky because she knew I was coming, but she didn’t know when I’d arrive. So when I walked in on her talking with my Aunty, she jumped up and did a twirl. She danced for a good five minutes or so. That was beautiful to witness. Seeing the joy your presence brings to someone is heartwarming. It didn’t take long for news to reach my brothers, and we had a brief video call. I hadn’t spent up to 30 minutes, and she had asked me what I’d like to eat more times than I can remember. Home is sweet.
I linked up with my best friend, Wilson, and we headed towards the airport in the evening. I was going to pick my BABY. Her flight which Airpeace scheduled to land by 8 pm, took an extra hour, so we were chilling in Chicken Republic while we waited. Sitting with Wilson, talking, and it didn’t feel like we’d been apart for that long. He still laughs with all his teeth and eats like the food is running away. The phone vibrated, and I got a message, “Where are you?”
The next day was my cousin's wedding, and somehow I got the entire crew to the venue apart from AY. He just had surgery, and he couldn’t make it. Seeing my cousins, friends, family and love together under the same roof made my heart swell. My heart was leaping for joy, and my eyes were almost teary from reuniting with everyone. I sat at the table insulting Tomiwa and eating puff-puff while forcing my babe to eat her food. That night, we headed to Bolu's house, where we watched City win the champions league and reminisced.
The beautiful thing about going home was seeing so many people for the first time. I got to see Temi, Sharon, Simi and Treasure. We’ve been friends for a while, and seeing them for the first time after creating such a bond was ecstatic. Although we couldn’t spend adequate time together, it was a merry meeting. Also, going to church physically made my soul dance with infinite thrill. I’ve been an online warrior for a while, but there’s joy in the presence of the lord. I was walking on sunshine throughout; not even subsidy removal could dull my shine.
Two weeks went by in a breeze, and the day before I left, I looked at my mum and my girlfriend together talking, and I wanted to cancel my flight to stay. I still had people to see, places to visit, and memories to create, but reality came knocking. On the 26th, I was back in Edinburgh. I miss home dearly. When I said goodbye to my babe, I left the car and didn’t look back. When I hugged my mum goodbye, I walked away without looking back. If I had seen their face again, I might be typing this from my room in Ajah.
I’m in my house now in Edinburgh, back to work, and my graduation is on Tuesday; I guess that’s something to look towards.
Happy new month, and have a lovely week ahead. See you next week
This is beautiful ❤️
Congratulations 🎉