Memories worth cherishing

Are the teenagers now going through what we went through? Imagine the joy of some boy dropping a hand-written letter behind your house’s fence; there were these small writing pads with the word “I love you this much” inscribed at the bottom. One could never hide the excitement that these letters brought. They all started almost in the same way… “First and foremost I thank the Almighty God for giving me this golden opportunity of passing this missive to you. Secondly is to tell you that you are my only bean in my meal, the only sugar in my tea……..” you can imagine how they ended…. “At this particular juncture, my adrenaline is running as fast as an ostrich, allow me to systematically put my last fullstop.” The joy of keeping your bedroom window opened to re-read the letter as you watch that handsome, rich and naughty neighbour showing off yet again his new mountain bike as the sun set. You know very well that you will never get to ride it since you are not yet in his league and if you are, unfortunately your more slender, beautiful older sister gets to ride it before you do. What memories with the teenagers now later in life? Will it be the ever annoying internet forward messages that demand you to send to 5 more friends for them to apply to your life? Or will the girls remember the endless emails they were sent containing lyrics from Lil’ wayne’s Lollipop song? Or is it that tall and handsome facebook boy who sends you hugs and kisses to block your mind from noticing that he has used a celebrity photo as his profile picture. Back in the days, every single word uttered to you mattered and had a lot of meaning. Please, note that I haven’t said that men didn’t lie then; I am only saying that the lies were sweeter. “If you were a place, I would live there until every corner is memorized, and if you were a star I would follow you home, you would be the light that is my only guide,” of course these words were never fulfilled but the thought that they were used in the “missive” kept the adrenaline at work. Even the boy you met during some interschool competition a previous week just knew words do really please women while he says” honey our love has passed the test of time” and before you knew what the test of time meant, the relationship got over before it even started. We could never afford the big Motorola phones nicknamed phone booths leave alone the black berries that the teenagers have now, so if you planned a week ago to meet Mr. Perfect somewhere you had to specify the specific location and the specific spot. If he didn’t show up which was most unlikely, then you had to wait until next Sunday for explanations after church. With the new technology of mobile phones, no one gives out the truth of their exact whereabouts. “I’m parking the car, I can see you, are you the one in specs and shoes? Stupid! He knows very well you never put down your specs and that you are not at the beach so definitely you have shoes on. He decides that he will not turn up for the date so what does he do? He will not pick up your calls and later on he will blame it on the congestion in MTN network. Teenage was like a fairy tale or reading a mills and boon novel. I wonder what stories our parents got to offer. karuthum@gmail.com