Nostalgia.

a trip down memory lane.

In no particular order, these are just some memories I have because I have been reminiscing recently.

Having 1 cedi to buy sweets and share with my siblings.

When I was about 6 years old, my dad would give me 1 cedi in the evening to buy sweets and share with my siblings. We would walk to the shop and buy 5 pieces of Robb toffee (a mentholated toffee) and 5 pieces of Chocomilo. They each cost 10 pesewas for a piece and we used to do this every evening after our supper.

My major Olivia Rodrigo phase.

And I know we weren’t perfect but I’ve never felt this way for no one. And I just can’t imagine how you could be so okay now that I’m gone. Guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me. ‘Cause you said forever now I drive alone past your street………………………………..

Oh my, I used to play this song on YouTube and sing it as if I was heartbroken and I was just 12 even. I could sing most of the songs on the Sour album. My sister and I had a blast with it and it annoyed me sometimes whenever she sang Driver’s license because I felt it was my song. Deja vu, traitor, good 4 u and happier were my jams then.

Listening to the radio.

I helped out at my dad’s pharmacy shop in the evenings in JHS and when the TV in the shop broke, I resorted to listening to the radio to keep myself entertained. My favourite stations were Luv FM 99.5MHz and Pure FM 95.7MHz. Pure Drivetime was one of my favourite shows and there was a game on this show called Lifeline. To play this game, you called the station and answered some questions. You could request a song to be played if you won. I called the station once to play the game and I requested that they play Alessia Cara’s Scars to your beautiful. Sadly I didn’t win but they still played the song because I was their youngest caller that day and I was just 13 then. I also recorded the songs played on the radio sometimes so I could listen to it later.

Children’s day in church.

In the church calendar, a week was set aside to celebrate the Sunday School. I remember vividly that when I was 5, I had a Bible recitation. I recited Psalm 1 from memory in both English and Twi. I got so much praise and some people gave me money, they put it in my clothes even whilst I was still on the stage. After church, I used the money to buy yoghurt and bofrot. When I got a bit older, I was mainly leading praise or worship or order of service even. I also taught the younger ones the choreography and the hymn we would sing as well. I was also in charge of the song ministration as well.

Watching Indian, Mexican and Filipino dramas that were dubbed in Twi.

Adom TV showed Jiji maa and Sapne Suhane and Kulfi. Atinka TV showed Chandra Nandini. Max TV showed The General’s Daughter, The Heiress, Doble Kara and Brothers. UTV showed Lagatha, Amaya and My Sweet Curse. And there are actually many others that I don’t even remember. I never watched Kumkum Bhagya at home but knew the characters due to it being discussed everywhere from saloons to shops to school even. In our house, you had to finish your homework before being allowed to watch with everyone else. During the advertisement breaks, we would rush to drink water or go buy the stuff we needed from the shop (mostly stationery for my little siblings who for some reason always misplaced their pencils). And sometimes, punishments in our house was to miss whatever show we were all watching. My siblings and I even staged our own version of Jiji maa, complete with saris. We would beg for a later bedtime in order to watch The General’s Daughter because the episodes ended at 10pm and our bedtime was 9:30pm. On days we missed episodes because there was no electricity, we would either ask others who watched the same show what happened or wait for the omnibus to air on weekends. Most of these shows had talk shows where people would call the TV station and advise the characters.

Cartoons on Saturday afternoons.

For some reasons, most TV stations showed cartoons at 3pm on Saturdays. And to watch, you should have finished all your chores: washing the dishes, scrubbing the bathroom and toilet, fetching water into containers, doing the laundry and also finishing your homework. And by 3pm, everyone would have eaten and we would turn on the television to watch whatever cartoon was showing.

My MzVee, Kuami Eugene, Kidi and Adina phases.

My MzVee phase started in primary 3 or 4. We had been given homework to research a music artiste and write about them. I chose MzVee because I liked her song, Come and See My Moda and also her long natural hair. I really loved how she carried her hair. After doing that research, I fell in love with her art and could sing all her songs. My Kuami Eugene phase was at its peak in primary 5. Obiato was my song then. Kuami Eugene had a number of songs with MzVee that I loved as well; Rewind and Bend down (which featured in many choreography performances at the time). Kuami Eugene himself had some bangers like talk of Walaahi, Confusion, Angela, Boom boom bang etc. There was a newspaper, Junior Graphic, which had the lyrics of most of these songs at the back and we used to buy these for 1 cedi 50 pesewas. I would say my Kidi phase peaked during lockdown. Say Cheese and Enjoyment were released during that time. My sisters and I even did a choreography to Enjoyment. I remember my seatmate in JHS and I used to sing Adina’s Why all the time and Take Care of You as well which featured Stonebwoy.

I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoy reading it as well.