by Summayyah Sadiq-Ojibara

Created on: May 16, 2008

Gems Of Life!

Finally the hour had come!

All the weeks of waiting were finally over, it was time for the great unveiling!

It was not the launch of the national carrier into space or the public auction of the crown jewels; it was my birthday and I was about to open presents from my family!

All right! well, so maybe it was nothing dramatic or as momentous as going into space but opening birthday gifts from your family, which had been in your possession for more than eight weeks is a life-changing event at that moment for a thirteen year old!

One of the most poignant memories of my school days is how my mother made sure that we never missed out on the warmth of the family's love on one of the most important days of our lives; our birthdays, no matter the distance or the time.

Coming from a close knit family of six (more blessed additions came after) at the time; three girls and a boy and my mother and father, birthdays were really big deals for us and we looked forward to it with much anticipation and excitement.

So even when our birthdays came in the middle of term in boarding school, my mother made sure we still felt how special the day was. She would have packed with the rest of the luggage at the beginning of the term, presents and cards from everyone in the family and goodies in a special bag only to be opened on the day.

My school located in the northern part of Nigeria West Africa was the farthest as I lived in the western part of the country, so I did not have the luxury of frequent visits from my parents as my siblings who schooled closer home, so I kept my birthday bag with my guardian, a teacher in the school whom my parents had elected to watch out for me.

My guardian had dropped my birthday bag that Friday night after night prep, because she was going out of town and would not be back until Sunday night; my birthday.

I fought and won battles with myself over opening the bag before my birthday. I was so excited that I kept looking at the clock until I fell asleep sometime that Saturday night, the eve of my birthday. I woke up later and quickly looked at the time, it was some minutes after midnight; at last my special day had come.

I rushed to the bag and started to fiddle with the lock. Several moments later, I had still not opened the bag as it turned out; I had lost the key to the lock! I was not prepared to wait until morning for the school handy man to come, I knew I would die before morning if I did not open my presents.

I got a small pin and tried to pick

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