Greetings!
Inasmuch as it is very tiring to exchange endless greetings with large family members at gatherings in our house, it is also advantageous and an honorable thing to have family members—especially extended family members—gather at our house frequently. My family currently lives in the family compound, and my dad, though not an elderly person, possesses an accommodating and responsible character that attracts family members of all ages—both old and young, aunties and uncles—to assemble in our house regularly. This becomes even more frequent during festive periods like this, which makes me stay indoors a lot whenever I visit home because of the never-ending greetings.
What happens in such a gathering in my family?
First of all, such gatherings can never truly happen without drinks, whether alcoholic or soft drinks. In fact, most times it’s usually alcohol because of the elderly ones. The younger ones in the compound are often sent on errands to fetch these drinks. I used to belong to that category of people who were sent to buy drinks, but I’ve grown up now. Besides that, my upbringing took a "churchy" route, and as a result, they respect me enough not to send an "anointed" person to buy alcohol. Lol😂
For me, apart from the endless greetings—because everyone wants to say hello to me, given how I was raised—I end up being taxed a lot. I guess it’s because of my appearance; they always see me as someone who is already "made" in the city. As such, they feel entitled to be beneficiaries because they can’t just be uncles, aunties, grandmas, and grandpas for nothing. This is the part that makes me stay indoors a lot whenever they come in their full squad.
I try as much as possible to dodge this "billing," but there’s no way I can completely escape it. There are quite a number of them I’m very close to, and since they know my room, whenever they hear that I’ve arrived and I’m inside the house, they’ll find their way to my room to get their "bread," as they fondly call it.
Beyond this, there’s really nothing else significant that happens between me and them. I’ve never been disturbed by any of my aunties or uncles about my marital life. They seem to trust that I’ll make a good choice when the time comes. I know they’ve been expecting an announcement soon, but they don’t have the courage to ask me directly. Lol.
Despite all this, I truly love the gatherings. Seeing those familiar faces and observing how they’re aging, which is a real blessing, warms my heart. I cherish meeting them whenever I travel home for the holidays, even though I often have to dodge them at times and stay indoors.
Thanks for reading.
This is my entry to Hiveghana prompt of the week
Photo used is mine
