One of the best spies in the United States suffers Post Traumatic Stress breakdowns and almost dying on the job. She goes back to her hometown to spend winter break with her family members and to take care of her mental health. Things are going well...
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"Tank yu bebi Jizɔs, mi pikin dɔn kam bak! (Thank you baby Jesus, my child has returned!)" My mother yell out. The excitement in her voice must have woken up the entire neighborhood, it is 11am in the morning. She had a smile wider than a whale, there are tears falling from her eyes. She did not hesitate to give me the firmest hug I have ever felt.
After that, the rest of my family members came rushing to see me again. My dad, two sisters, and one brother gave me a hug and were excited to see me again. Even though I told my family that I was coming back home so that there would not be any surprises, they were thrilled and happy to see me again. Though, I should have expected this reaction. It has been seven to almost eight years since I saw my family; that is like almost a decade.
Seeing my family again brought back a lot of memories and emotions that I kept hidden for the longest. The biggest memory that came back to me is my Sierra Leone culture. When it came to my culture, I did not treat it as a big deal; I thought it was just another culture. Plus I did not have a huge connection to my heritage since I never stepped foot in Sierra Leone, no one taught me how to speak the Krio language, I never had friends who were Sierra Leoneans, and I lived in America throughout my life.
I did have cousins, uncles, and aunties who lived in Virginia; but I was not close to them. My parents are fluent speakers of the Krio language, since they were born and raised in Sierra Leone. My siblings can speak the language as well. However, when it came to me, I always struggled to speak and read the language. I can understand it perfectly, but trying to speak it is a challenge for me.
So when my mom spoke the language to me just now and seeing all my family members happy to see me, it made me see the value of my culture. I still got a lot to learn, but seeing my family again can help me get in touch with my culture.
All of my family members look amazing. My mother looks younger than she is, she is 52 years old but the way she is looking makes her look 30. She is 5'6", slim with some meat to her, and her melanin skin looking rich. She is dressed like she's heading to an African party; wearing a pink lappa covering her hair, pink aso ebi covering her chest, black high heels, and makeup making her face shine. My two sister, Kadie who is 17 years old and Amie who is 15 years old. They also have on aso ebi, lappa, high heels, and makeup on. My father who is 55 and brother, Yamba who is 20 years old. They are dressed in dashing black suits and black shoes. I am wondering why everyone is dressed so dapper. It was only Thursday and it's too early in the morning for any event to start.
My only guess is that they wanted to dress nicely for my return. If that is the reason, I appreciate them for going all out. But they did not have to do all this for me. Plus, it does feel awkward seeing them dressed up while I am wearing causal clothing.
All in all, I am happy to see my family again. I want to connect with them again, I want to know how everyone was doing. Especially with my siblings, since they grew up and are young adults now. The last time I saw my siblings, they were little and in elementary school. I want to know everything that happened in their lives and if anything significant happened.
