Nostalgia
Fun fact: I had to confirm with Google to know if I’m correct about this word and if it is the right word to express my feelings. 😂
You know how you feel when you listen to a song that was attached to a season of your life, or you visit a location that holds memories for you either good or bad. That was how I felt as the public transport I boarded drove down the roads of Badagry.
That wasn’t my first time visiting that part of Lagos, but that was my first in about 10 years. Prior to this day, I had been looking forward to visiting and probably seeing my old acquaintances. As the bus rolled its tires in the red mud, I recounted the bits and particles of my journey with my elder sister, my companion, that day.
How the roads used to be, how I mostly had to lap my younger brother, and how we couldn’t afford to sleep on the bus to avoid missing our bus stop. I’m one of those people who attach landmarks to locations, so whenever I see the landmark, I can tell my current location.
As we journeyed, I wished I could glimpse the events that happened 10 years ago or at least recreate those moments. I was grinding with excitement as I reminisced.
I wished I could go back in time, I wish I could bring everybody back together. I wish I could still see my first boyfriend whom I met in this part of the city. I wanted to know how he was faring! If he was married or still in the market. If he was married, I wanted to see his children or even meet his family.
I wished I could still sneak out of my host’s house with the daughter covering up for me just in the name of hanging out with my boyfriend.
Sadly, I was only able to meet one person who knew me from the time I visited back in the day. Every other person who knew me was family.
I miss the days when we were young and naive. Clueless about what the future looked like yet enjoying the moment. Heavily dependent on our parents for survival(food, clothing, and shelter).
Back then when I could dance in the rain almost half naked and enjoy free water. To the days of getting home from school to meet a food flask packaged by my sweet mum.
I miss the days when my mum would measure my feet with a broom to be able to get the accurate shoe size. The days when I could conveniently sleep on my dad’s chest, and ask him for a portion of his fish or meat as the case may be.
I’m sure I would look back to this phase in my life and probably wish to go back but then, growth is a constant part of our lives that we cannot do away with. It’s not even up for conversation.
You can choose not to grow but you can’t control time, as it isn’t personalized to you.
If you could go back in time to your childhood/teenage days, what would you love to recreate even though you’re an adult? I would love to read your response in the comment section.
P:S If you enjoyed what you just read, click the clap icon, the maximum clap is 50, this way you are recommending this story to other readers on Medium, drop a comment to encourage me or send me a DM on Twitter.
