Eiimie Samuel, a budding OAP in Calabar wants us to go back to the olden days of writing love letters. So enjoy this funny personal piece and tell us about your own experiences or what you think about Eiimie’s piece.
“So I pick up my golden pen from my basket of love, with so much joy in my heart to pen down to you, just how
much my heart beats for you…”
This did not just have a magic smile effect on any girl who received this kind of letter, but it also increased the chances of the sender’s reception into the heart of the receiver back then.
This was in the early 2000. Though I hadn’t been around for too long
before technology took over our lives, I too craved everyday for this kind of
attention.
2006, yes that was the year I gained admission into an all girls secondary
school at the age of nine. I am a petite woman so I can remember way back then how tiny I was in my uniform. The joy of being in a secondary school was overwhelming. It was a dream come true for me considering the fact that I just took the first school leaving
certificate examinations in primary four as a mock exam in preparation for primary five where I would take it officially, but when I passed the examination, my parents decided I knew it all and immediately pushed me into the secondary school.
In my secondary school experience, I really did not have my way with the kind of boys I wanted because I was pint sized with a very sharp tongue and the kind of boys that came my way
were either boys my age who just wanted to play quaffing or classmates who only talked about classes and assignments and nothing else. But I wanted more, did I mention I was the youngest in my class? Well, I was and because of my sharp tongue, pettiness and stature, I earned the name ” Baby Police”.
After school, I would see my classmates hang around with boys from the neighbouring boys’ school, exchanging letters and laughing heartily in only a way that a man can make a woman do. But me? I wasn’t having any of those, so most times I ended up going home alone angered that my trekking partner was with a boy and as such had slowed down her paces in order to buy more time for themselves.
You can imagine the joy that came into my life when I finally did get a boy. He was not just any boy but the best that there was. Dark skinned, handsome, tall and also the son of a renowned politician. Oh! He showered me with all the love I needed then, through letters of course, that was my sole aim of wanting a boyfriend in the first place. I wanted more than nothing just to read, smile and tear my letters in the presence of my friends. He was in a boarding school so we did not get to see often but the letters were crazy. We also did not bother about posting because that was taken care of by his best friend who was a day student and was always home so through him we talked endlessly. By the end of JSS 3, slowly technology started creeping in and gradually it took away our “letter days” with the advent of Zain phones, Nokia babyface, starcoms and the rest of the leading phones then. I cannot say what happened to my letter boy but I think we outgrew each other and it was time to move on to the next phase in life.
***
Fast forward to December 2015, when I had just lost my phone and I had no means of communicating whatsoever with Bae. One day, he walks into my shop and hands me a long piece of paper and zooms off. Just as I unfold the paper and begin to read it, the same juices that flowed in my veins years back rejuvenates and I’m blushing red.
Sometimes we do not always have to roll with the tides. One of these days, we need to go back to the old school, pick up our golden pens from our baskets of love and write to that special someone in plain correct English, letting them know just how much they mean to you.
***LOVE***
Has never costed anything. A little sincere “I LOVE YOU” scribbled on a piece of paper can warm even the coldest hearts even much more than an expensive date in a classy restaurant.
So in this season of love, let’s do it the old school way and bring back our
“letter days”
EIIMIE
Eiimie is a budding OAP who is very passionate about life. I believe our past has a connection with the present whether negative or positive and we have the sole responsibility of choosing which we want to relate with.
That is why I always love relishing good times and bringing back memories that we most times unintentionally lock up in a folder we’ve tagged “the past ” in our minds. I’m also a sucker for food and good people.
Nice piece!
Thanks