Kedu onye ga-abu enyi m o? (x4)
If you grew up in Nigeria (like me), you might have sang this simple song many times on the playground, and if you’re Ibo, you would certainly know what it means. We used it to play the find-a-friend game on the playground, in which the child in the centre of the circle chanted the song as she danced around the circle. When the song ended, she would grab the person closest to her, and voilà – a new friend!
I turn *drum roll* 31 sometime tomorrow! As one of my friends aptly put it, this is the last year that my age would be on a calendar. Yay for me and Yayyy (to infinity) for God who has kept me and brought me this far.
My sister was asking what my plans for the big day were, and honestly I don’t have any. Aside from the fact that it’s on a working day in the middle of winter, it has slowly dawned on me that even if my birthday was on a weekend, this year I don’t have any close friends to celebrate with in the Burgh. It wasn’t always like this, and honestly I didn’t do anything to chase them away. They just gradually moved away to pastures new – six to southern England in the space of 18 months and one to Nigeria two months ago, and I haven’t been intentional in recruiting (lol) new friends or drawing old acquaintances in. I still keep in touch with the abandoners, mind you, but it’s so not the same.
So like I said to my sister, I need to make new friends. When? ASAP! Who? Preferably young single adults of like minds that I can hang out with. How? À la Proverbs 18: 24 - A man (or woman) that has friends must show himself (or herself) friendly.
So maybe I should spend a little more time welcoming new people and catching up with old timers after church next Sunday (like I used to), instead of racing away in a bid to dodge my ex. Or I should step out of my comfort zone next week and visit the homegroup that is actually closer to where I live. Or I could join the badminton club at the university like I’ve been meaning to. Because until I do, I won’t be able to sing the second verse of the song “A fugo mu enyi m o”!
Blessings,
Uzy xxx
PS: So I'll like to know, who is your closest friend at the moment, and how did you two meet?
