The Gift

I was born in Lagos, Africa. Spent most of my life on Benin city.

I have very distinct memories of my childhood till I was 7, everything after that, ask the way till I was 18, seems like a blur - something that happened to someone who looks like me, but in a dream.

Some of my most vivid memories are that of my Dad - every year we'd have the most wonderful vacations, month long getaways in exotic locations. But Summers were always reserved for time with the extended family in India.

Dad was a family man - come what may, he'd always come home to spend time with family. Dad was like Santa - he'd come home with bags full of gifts for everyone. If he liked something, he could never buy just one of it, they'd have to be one for everyone, plus some more, just in case the neighbors were around.

I thought I was like Dad, I love to gift and I always had to buy more than what was required - until one day I realized I started to have an aversion to the amount of objects we had at home - more than we could consume. It was all of a sudden, I couldn't shop anymore. 

Today when I travel, I get stressed when I had to plan to shop, cos I believe that everything we need we really have and when you shop during travels it was merely a novelty. I soon realized that I was a minimalist. 

After this, when we really had to, I would prefer to gift people money. It saved me time and I thought that was more value to others, since they know best what they need. I could would be termed lazy or a person who does not care enough to plan a gift for his loved ones. 

Maybe I didn't actually care enough for the people close to me - how would dad feel about that. Surely, time was not a factor, cos I'd spend a lazy afternoon just chatting away with friends, sneak out early in the AM to meet someone for breakfast. Spend long late nights meeting my girlfriends who are in town on their brief annual visit. Help a friend bring groceries, or drive them to the airport just to catch an extra half hour with them. Visit an aunt, cos her kids aren't nearby.

Huh, maybe I was like Dad - using the gift of time to bring joy to my world. After all, in this day of instant delivery, objects are easily acquired - time on the other hand, is something only a person who has a limited amount of, would appreciate.