Old Memories Came Back Live

Suzy Hazelwood

Old Memories Came Back Live

The picture that I saw reminded me of old memories. It was not easy to take it but being a man, I had to sink the pain deep down of me instead of voicing it out with a loud cry.

I went home just two weeks ago for my mother-in-law's burial in a town not too far from my hometown. It was so pathetic that when I got to my mum's house, I noticed her absence, although her door was left open. My wife was still in her place when I took my leave to visit my mum. She knew I was going to my mum's place and sent me to give her some raw rice as well as some onions.

I opened the door and entered her room. I discovered that the room was not organized and must put it in order before my mum arrived.

I picked up a broom and started sweeping. I just wanted to make the room look neat and changed the bed position. As I was cleaning up, I shifted the bed a bit so that I would be able to sweep under the bed properly. Every item my mum placed under the bed was shifted out as they were all dusty. I made sure to clean up the dust and make them look so neat.

There was an old box that I remembered my mum always warned us not to touch just because of the items she kept inside of it which I knew nothing of. Something was ringing in me to open it but I still remembered my mum's words "On no account must you open the box". I carried it to one side and cleaned all other items under the bed and made every part look so neat.

The bed position was changed totally from the former position to a new and calm position. The look on my face showed a work well done. I was so happy to have completed this task. Now, I began to arrange the items I removed from under the bed into position. My old school bag, formerly placed on the wall, was placed under the bed, although I saw some old pictures which got me carried away. I remembered some of my old friends who have become stories. I also saw some of my old friends that are no more. This brought back some old memories deep inside me.

I was looking for the best position to place the box before something deep in me pinched me to open the box. I said, "At least I'm no longer a baby, I am grown up now and cannot be scolded any longer". I decided to unzip the box and saw my mum's wrappers. They were so beautiful wrappers and there were so many. Wow!!!, I shouted.

At the side of the box, there was a white book that looked like an old album. I took it and discovered that it was our old album. I was so happy to see it. I flipped each page and viewed some awesome old pictures. Seeing my pictures when I was still very tender and when I was still in secondary school got me triggered and kept me laughing.

I flipped to another page and saw some other old pictures I took with my younger brother. I kept on gazing at them one by one and could not remove my sight from them. Tears rolled down my face. I was in deep pain. This was when I knew the reason my mum never allowed me to open the box.

That day was not a good day for me. I could not tell my mum how I opened the box because it would bring back old memories for her.