One of the things that I do not like is the fact that I never got to grow up alongside my cousins. This means I know very little about my uncles and aunts. I know my dad has more than 20 siblings, but I only know two of my cousins and do not even know their parents very well. I know those two cousins because they came to our house long ago when they were writing their west African examination. I saw their mum for the first time during my late grand mum’s burial. The funny thing is I only saw my grand mum for the first time while she laid inside a coffin. This shows how far apart my extended family is or should I say how far away I am from them. Nowadays it is easy to just call someone or even have an extended family group, but my dad and his siblings are not close, none of them are close to each other and it has affected us as their children. Another funny fact is that we have a lot of things in common, I mean my dad’s genes are so strong that the siblings and cousins look so much alike when I saw them for the first time, it was fascinating.
My mum on the other hand tries so much to keep her siblings together, but then she is from a polygamy home and has a good relationship with only her mother’s children. They are three in numbers so they try to stay close. But then that kindness is not extended to their siblings' children. One of my aunts was very close to us growing up, she got us a lot of things back then. My sister and her would call her our favourite aunt, but in reality, she was our only aunt because the rest did not just care. Later on she got married and we heard less from her. At times I tried to reach out to her using that child-like mind I knew growing up, but her response made me think twice before reaching out again. Now we just act like we do not know each other while my mum still talks very well with her siblings. Right now all I want to do is leave my life and forget I have an extended family. I still wonder how I have never met any of my cousins from my mothers side being the oldest of all of them, and have only met the ones from my fathers side once. (during my grand mum’s burial).
But then again one of the major reasons we never got to grow up with our cousins or knew our uncles and aunts was because my dad spent his whole life calling some of his siblings witches and wizards. I do not know the quarrels they had, but I know my dad to be an african man. I mean I am his son and we are not even that close LOL. For my mum, the majority of her family are muslims and she decided to be a christian and even married a non muslim. Her polygamus family is full of politics, and she and her sisters do not want to be part of those politics, but then again, I guess they are just used to surviving on their own. And I must admit, her sisters do have some attitude issues.
THIS IS MY RESPONSE TO HIVE LEARNER'S PROMPT FOR WEEK 233 EPISODE 2
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