Madam Speaker Marks Another Year ...
The 21st of January 2015.
What an amazing day I had. I wonder what accounts for the feeling of excitement and happiness on one’s birthday. Perhaps it’s the knowledge of knowing that you have completed yet another 360 degree revolution – metaphorically speaking, perhaps it’s all the pressies that you know are coming your way? Well I guess different people have different reasons why they find their birthdays significant, different from the other 364 days in the year.
This year, I wanted to take in every moment of the 24 hours of my birthday. I wanted to deliberately live out each of those 1440 minutes of my birthday. Well, I can’t really explain why this would be the case this year, but either way that’s what I did. When the clock struck 00:00 on the 21st of January I was actually still prancing around the house, in and out of my parent’s room and in and out of the lounge busy chatting about all sorts of things to my mom and dad. Earlier the previous day I had collected my African inspired outfit from the guy that makes my clothes so I was busy parading the outfit and deciding what accessories I should pair it with, for my “surprise” birthday lunch that my girl Dee was organising for the weekend. I digress –back to the main story…
The first thing that I wanted to do in the first few minutes of my birthday was to approach the throne of my Creator, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the one who knew me before He formed me to thank Him for yet another year; to thank Him for his abundant grace and, to praise Him and proclaim His greatness. I did just that and my heart was at peace and secure in the knowledge that as I start yet another revolution, I know that He will be with me to guide, protect, bless and correct me no matter what. I then went to bed. In the morning my mom came into my room, and as is customary we prayed together.
I spent the rest of the day being pampered and hanging out with my sister. A complete style makeover; hair, courtesy of my mom, manicure and pedicure courtesy of my sister. When I got home that evening, my dad handed me a birthday card (signed by him, my mom….and yes, Zorro and Karibu…our two dogs). Inside the birthday card, was a CD. This was not just any CD, it was a CD that my dad had singlehandedly put together, titled: “African Music”. The CD is a mix of different songs from the continent, from my Africa. I love it, and so much thought went into it. That’s a CD that will stay with me forever; I should probably even duplicate it and place the original in a safe / capsule of sorts to preserve it – along with his original copy of the Freedom Charter that is now in my possession.
I found this to be so significant! My dad and I share a love for the same things, and the music of Africa is one of those. On our way to a family dinner, with my sister, brother, nieces and parents, I played that CD and that music takes me back, back to my childhood. One particular song, is my all-time favourite (well I guess it’s an all-time Khoza family favourite).
The song is Shauri Yako performed by Orchestra Super Mazembe¸ a band that is considered as the best groups in the golden era of Kenyan Lingala music. Their biggest hit was Shauri Yako a song originally performed by Nguashi Ntimbo and Festival Du Zaire. This song reminds me of my childhood, all the braai’s that my parents would host for family, friends and neighbours. Our house was the party house, with Bra Jimmy and Sis Margaret (as they are affectionately known in our old neighbourhood in Protea North, Soweto. The CD is filled with other great hits that are right up my alley!!
Thank you God, family and friends for making my birthday spectacular!!!!
What an amazing day I had. I wonder what accounts for the feeling of excitement and happiness on one’s birthday. Perhaps it’s the knowledge of knowing that you have completed yet another 360 degree revolution – metaphorically speaking, perhaps it’s all the pressies that you know are coming your way? Well I guess different people have different reasons why they find their birthdays significant, different from the other 364 days in the year.
This year, I wanted to take in every moment of the 24 hours of my birthday. I wanted to deliberately live out each of those 1440 minutes of my birthday. Well, I can’t really explain why this would be the case this year, but either way that’s what I did. When the clock struck 00:00 on the 21st of January I was actually still prancing around the house, in and out of my parent’s room and in and out of the lounge busy chatting about all sorts of things to my mom and dad. Earlier the previous day I had collected my African inspired outfit from the guy that makes my clothes so I was busy parading the outfit and deciding what accessories I should pair it with, for my “surprise” birthday lunch that my girl Dee was organising for the weekend. I digress –back to the main story…
The first thing that I wanted to do in the first few minutes of my birthday was to approach the throne of my Creator, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the one who knew me before He formed me to thank Him for yet another year; to thank Him for his abundant grace and, to praise Him and proclaim His greatness. I did just that and my heart was at peace and secure in the knowledge that as I start yet another revolution, I know that He will be with me to guide, protect, bless and correct me no matter what. I then went to bed. In the morning my mom came into my room, and as is customary we prayed together.
I spent the rest of the day being pampered and hanging out with my sister. A complete style makeover; hair, courtesy of my mom, manicure and pedicure courtesy of my sister. When I got home that evening, my dad handed me a birthday card (signed by him, my mom….and yes, Zorro and Karibu…our two dogs). Inside the birthday card, was a CD. This was not just any CD, it was a CD that my dad had singlehandedly put together, titled: “African Music”. The CD is a mix of different songs from the continent, from my Africa. I love it, and so much thought went into it. That’s a CD that will stay with me forever; I should probably even duplicate it and place the original in a safe / capsule of sorts to preserve it – along with his original copy of the Freedom Charter that is now in my possession.
I found this to be so significant! My dad and I share a love for the same things, and the music of Africa is one of those. On our way to a family dinner, with my sister, brother, nieces and parents, I played that CD and that music takes me back, back to my childhood. One particular song, is my all-time favourite (well I guess it’s an all-time Khoza family favourite).
The song is Shauri Yako performed by Orchestra Super Mazembe¸ a band that is considered as the best groups in the golden era of Kenyan Lingala music. Their biggest hit was Shauri Yako a song originally performed by Nguashi Ntimbo and Festival Du Zaire. This song reminds me of my childhood, all the braai’s that my parents would host for family, friends and neighbours. Our house was the party house, with Bra Jimmy and Sis Margaret (as they are affectionately known in our old neighbourhood in Protea North, Soweto. The CD is filled with other great hits that are right up my alley!!
Thank you God, family and friends for making my birthday spectacular!!!!
Comments
Post a Comment