HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BABY

Knock Yourself Out with Your Brandy and Juice

My little baby sister Nnenne also popularly known to us as Nenebom alias Nanio, Blackie, Susie, Kunta-Kinte and Gbazaqueen turns 20 today April 11. Yippie!! I remeber when I used to carry you on my back. We'd drop you from the dresser, dining table or the window sill so many times that i'm surprised you didn't have any brain damage. I'ld also sing for you so you will stop crying, 'Nnennem O, ezigbo Nnemu a, chukwu biko gozie Nnem o nye y'oganiru...nne mu ma nma obukwa nnemu a, nne mu jo njo , obukwa nnemu a, nne mu ka nka obukwa nnemu a, chukwu biko gozie nnem o nye y'ogairu '. Usually throwing you in the air and shouting 'kunta-kinte' would do the trick to shut you up. And how about your pet chicken, Belina-the red-hen. Poor Beli-beli, we watched her grow from a spring chick to a rambuqtous edible hen. We had to kill her that Christmas because she was stumping on all her eggs. Mama-kwuku said she was a wicked and useless barren chicken. You refused to eat the rice- and-stew and cried the whole day. But you had to face the dilemma at hand. Accepting the reality or starvation, while watching everybody else enjoy the delicacy that was the tantalizing chicken stew Belina turned out to be. You succumbed and ate your rice and chicken through tears. I can never forget that day. We were all sad for you, but who were you fooling, what african had a hen as house-pet that wasn't just going through the fattening process.

You've grown into a young woman and sometimes I am sad I missed all that as a big sister. Even despite your age and the fact that you can be a spoiled brat sometimes, you are wise and mature beyond your age('Bad behaviour is like pregnancy, you cannot hide it', how profound). Remember those days when you insisted you would have a party for yourself because no one wanted to throw a party for you. You gathered all the little kids in the compound to take a picture with you in your little brides dress and your one candle bread cake from Mama Kaka. Lol. Even with just one crate of mineral, a box of Cabin biscuit and Okin, you always made sure you had yourself a good birthday regardless of the situation. How about when we told you the reason you were so black and ended up with the hand me downs was because you had been abandoned and were adopted. You cried so hard that you packed your bags and called your god parents to come and pick you up because it was an emergency and that if they didn't come you'ld run away. Oh boy that was so funny, mummy and daddy begged you to stay and guess who got punished for the prank that everybody including the neighbors were in on. Me!!!

I won't even start telling the story of how I lost you at the mission square during the village-masquerade festival. You were so much trouble and could not walk the long distances with us and I would have to carry you on my back. I knew that would happen and refused to take you with me. I guess mummy was trying to teach me a lesson in love when she made me believe I had lost my little sister and said not to come back without finding you. Hungry and scared I looked for your @$$ all over the darned place, crying and refusing to go home until I found you. Everybody in the village knew I'd lost you and were helping me in looking for you. How about I went back to the house 3 hours later and you were chilling on the dining table eating goat meat and drinking coke; mummy laughing so hard it made me cry even more. Arrrgggh!!! She got me, I learnt my lesson and I never ever let you out of my sight ever again. I guess that's why we are so close because I felt you were my responsibility.

Happy Birthday my darling parrot. Wish I could be there to celebrate with you. I am missing you and all your gisting. Forever never disapointing my insatible appetite for gist. I was going to use this phone cardI'd been saving to call Mati but I am using it on you today instead ( Mat-mat biko no vex). If ya'll think I'm funny, wait till you meet Nnenne, she's the original funny one...GBAZA!!! Na you biko. All you 'yahoo-yahoos' bera hans-off. Nne keep holding down the crib on my behalf I'll be calling you and 'Onyena-pempem' soon for this weeks update. LUV YOU LOTS!!!!!!!!