TOMATOES FOR CHRISTMAS

Hello there!

How are you doing this fine day? How are preparations for Christmas going? 

Welcome to today's gist, it's a trip down memory lane for me, so enjoy. 

There's a significance today holds for me and my sister. 

On the 22nd of December over a decade ago, either 2006 or 2007, my mum sent me and my sister to take tomatoes to a grinding engine, we were leaving for the village the next day and the plan was to process them and store in bottles to be taken for our use when we got to the village. We had it ground and on our way back, my sister, who was carrying the big bucket of ground tomatoes on her head, decided not to support the load with her hands, big girl wey she been think say she be🙄. I was warning her but she refused to heed. As we approached our house, we saw this neighbor of ours who was in the bad habit of always coming to urinate outside his gate; he had just come outside his house and as was his habit, came to urinate near someone else's house. My sister, still not supporting the bucket of tomatoes on her head, to tried to look to confirm that it was him; she asked "no be Baba xyz be dat?" As soon as the words left her mouth, the entire bucket of ground tomato fell to the ground! Dan dan dan! We don enter trouble! How we go take tell mummy say her tomato don pour? We quickly packed the top part of the spill and went home. When my mum saw us, she was commenting on the fact that the tomato looked so small in the bucket, my sister just wanted to drop it and run off before my mum could notice the spill on her white gown. 

Our elder sister came out, not knowing what had happened, went to the bucket and said "why  grass dey the tomato like this?" We hadn't been careful in packing the top of the spill! Immediately, my mum called the both of us, see stain for Iye gown. For my mind, I just dey thank God say no be me been dey carry the tomato when e pour. 

As we stood there, wondering when the beating would start, mummy simply rushed out to go to the market and get tomatoes again, we were due to travel the next morning to the village so there was no time to waste. This time, mummy didn't allow us near the tomatoes at any time. For the rest of the day and the year sef, my sister and I walked on eggshells because we didn't know when the beating would come. 

People of God make I shock you? The beating never came! It was one of those situations where we expected punishment but it never came; turns out sometimes when my mum sees the strain we out on ourselves for fear of punishment when we do wrong, she just leaves us to the judgment of our conscience. 

Well that was one of the instances where we expected beating that never came: since that day, 22nd December became an anniversary of the day we poured my mum's bucket of tomatoes, every year on the 22nd of December, we would ask ourselves "no be Baba xyz be dat?😅😅" Unfortunately the man in question has passed away but every year we remember on this day, the funny memory of how we narrowly escaped beating. 

What Christmas memory stands out in your mind? I'd love to hear all about it in the comments so please share. 

Love,

Achenyo.