I thought of ignoring this prompt, you know the kind of thing that you don’t want to get sucked into but you also can’t stop thinking about…well, it’s got to be questions like this. Simple, innocent, like they’re just curious and want to hear from you.
And then, the one place that came to mind was Red Ginger it’s in Nairobi, and I love it because the first time I visited was because I was being treated to dinner on my birthday, and ever since whenever I think of Indian cuisine- it’s the only place I recommend.
have a doll- we had this doll called Rosy that was plastic and came with a rabbit in her hand, most of the girls had this doll in different colors and I wanted one.
learn how to read a newspaper because my Father lost focus of the world whenever he had that paper in front of him.
So, what did I want to be when I grow up?
I never thought about it and no one asked me about it…not until I joined primary school and was in Grade 2.
Hannibal– yes, the one that had Mads Mikkelsen. Trust me I have never been so caught up in the art of fine dining and etiquette like I did while watching this series.
I should have typed this or even recorded this letter for it to have gotten to you. 100 years is but a blink of an eye to you, you old soul.
You have seen the best of people and the worst of them and now when you close your eyes, you dream in color- reminisce the days of your prime and weep at the thought of your friends who have gone before you. I hope your limbs do not cause you pain, and that in all, you got to see your nephews and nieces and their children and their grandchildren.
Thank you for braving the seasons where you yearned for endless slumber.
Thank you for loving truly and whole heartedly and for holding the hands of your nephews and nieces.
Thank you for the books you wrote- the stories that have been passed down from one generation to the next.
Thank you for embracing and thriving in a realm so chaotic that you imagined and brought to life beauty.
And so, maybe I’d call you a Centurion-for you definitely have commanded a hundred legionaries of yourself, into this amazing stardust.
And for each breath, I thank you for those little things you did to get here- this right here is love and beauty from the one who is seeing you in her vision now, seated under that mango tree outside your home, the sound of the river winding her way downstream merging with the voices of your loved ones…this right here is her way of saying you did well Stardust, you did well.
I would say that when it comes to the things that money can buy, there is always a place and time to access that.
We buy experiences, things and now can always have a photo or video stored somewhere in cloud storage to remind us of these moments.
I do wish for the things that money cannot buy, people cannot fake or denounce- if there was room to experience an abundance of kindness for nature, people and in the utmost pure form…then that would be the ultimate shopping spree.
unsplash.com
Of course even as I type this my love for stationery is reminding me that I can never have enough of visiting any Miniso store or buying books from Text Book Centre here in Kenya.
I learned the hard way that you can be right, choose to do right and stand by what you know deep in your soul is right and still get punished for it.
Last year, I chose to walk away from an organization I truly loved working for- and if things were reversed, I would only hope that I never get to a higher position of authority at work and fail to take into account anyone’s views and misgivings about a decision without taking some time to think through things.
It’s waking up to the sunlight coming through my bedroom window.
To making my bed, taking a walk around the house to each room drawing curtains, cleaning where I can and settling down to breakfast later on.
This house is not mine, I pay rent at the end of every month to someone else, yet each moment I spend here feels like heaven.
For this is how I dream of my own space, it being a place of comfort and solace and secure, until then I strive to have a little bit of heaven right here.
nilichoandika 