TO MY BOWL OF MARSHMALLOWS...

Not many flaws are tolerable but when an imperfect being births a near-perfect story, you begin to see how inadequacies don’t matter.

When you let go but don’t hit the ground, then it means you’re flying; humiliating gravity.

I still don’t know the word for it but with you, I feel free and I haven’t hit rock bottom. That has to be a good sign because I feel like I’m shaming all my low expectations.

You’ve taught me a great deal and because I’m not about to let your head burst, I’ll tell you the simplest of them.

I have learnt that friendship is arguing even when there’s nothing to argue about just because both of you feel like yelling is the best way to say “I care”.

I have learnt that friendship is accepting silly names like Naaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzz, My Gee, Nana and Ogbeni just because for some reason, your friend finds them endearing.

I have learnt that friendship makes you do silly stuff like chase a guy around the mall for a hug just even though you’ll get to see him in a couple of months.

I have learnt that friendship is when the only name that makes sense for your friend is ‘marshmallows’

I have learnt that great friendship makes you forget why you ever thought words like trust and loyalty were ridiculous.

I have learnt that you can’t be that ‘normal’ you in great friendship; you have to be the ‘better you’ whether or not you consent to it.

I have learnt that in great friendship, distance and time are nothing but meaningless English words.

I have my doubts not because you’re horrid but because I ask myself if anyone can really be this nice.

I don’t know how your ear drums deal but I really appreciate your listening to my rants and husky laughter.

I don’t know how you manage to see through me but I appreciate your always being there with the right words, jokes and expressions.

I don’t know if you really are a magical mirror but I like who you tell me I am.

I don’t know if it’s a spell but I can’t think of anyone else who has made me guzzle a lifetime number of questions in six months.

I don’t know how you got me to write this silly thing but my hands are glad you did.

I don’t know why but I’m willing to be that friend that your kids call to complain to when you and your wife are being annoying grinches.

I don’t know what else to say since you practically bullied me into doing this piece but I have to say that

      I CARE ABOUT YOU (22x) and I LOVE YOU FROM RAPUNZEL’S SCALP TO HER HAIR TIPS, AND BACK (22x).

      YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING PERSON; YOUR HEART HAS TO BE MADE FROM CHOCOLATE, ROSES, GLITTERS AND WELL…BLOOD. (For some reason the bizarre analogy above feels right. Shhh!!!)

      YOU ARE FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH POTENTIAL AND CHARACTER; FIND YOUR PURPOSE AND HONE THESE ENDOWMENTS.

      IF YOU WILL SEARCH GOD OUT, YOU WOULD FIND THAT ALL YOUR DREAMS CAN BE ANSWERED PRAYERS.

      I HAVE NO REGRETS IN BEING YOUR FRIEND. I HOPE I’M RIGHT CUZ IF NOT, YOU’LL MAKE ME HATE MARSHMALLOWS AND THAT ALONE IS A CRIME.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy MaRsHMaLlOwS!!!!!!!!

God Bless You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have A bLaSt!!!!!!!!!

P.S- SINCE I’M NEVER THIS NICE TO YOU, I THINK YOU SHOULD PRINT THIS OUT, LAMINATE IT AND STARE AT IT FOR THE NEXT ONE YEAR CUZ I JUST RAN OUT OF NICENESS!

GROPING FOR A MAGIC WAND

When it comes down to it, I do not believe in fairytales. I don’t because despite the need to believe in them- to at least put a damper on the harsh realities of a world laced with scary stuff like ebola- they seem too far away. I know that all fingers are not equal but why should I be the one to have the little finger? Do you see where I’m coming from? Everybody tries to dissuade me from having fantasies that spice up my desires because they seem to be sure that I’ll eventually be disappointed when I don’t get them meanwhile someone somewhere has that same thing as his/her reality. I really do not understand why having a primal need to satisfy some desires I consider basic are always made out to be building castles in the air. It irks me that whenever I relate my desires or aspirations, there is always someone to point out how unrealistic some of them are and to what extent I’ll live an unhappy life when eventually I don’t get them. I don’t get why I can’t be one of the few that actually dream, believe and achieve. After all, there’s hardly any wish that has never come true before in some era or form. Why does everyone try so hard to make you believe that wanting a good thing is wanting too much? Has the world and its people deteriorated so badly that shooting stars have ceased to be awe-inspired because people are sure that no matter how much luck hovers around them, a wish made on seeing a shooting star will never come true, not even by coincidence.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I can’t help it. I can’t help stopping my imagination from running wild or my heart from racing after it. I can’t help seeing a huge conglomerate when I think of my career. I can’t help seeing a tall, hardworking, god-fearing, sensitive, ambitious guy when I think of my future husband. I can’t help seeing a hundred postcards crowding my refrigerator from all the places I’d have visited. I can’t help imagining my kids to be awfully cute and smart with dimples and who knows, maybe that photographic memory Lexi from Grey’s Anatomy has. I can’t help thinking of wine, chocolate, sweet scents, roses, silk and cuddling when I hear the word ‘romance’ although the average Nigerian man might not even know that those things mean anything at all. I can’t help seeing myself as some “Nazzirella” sometimes. I just can’t fight the pure magnificence that these day-dreams spiked with little wishes try to sneak into my very ordinary life in which I’m being forced to always be prepared for gloom rather than for splendor.

This has little to do with idealism but I refuse to accept that I can’t possibly be one of those people that stand as exceptions to all the ugly life stories flooding walls of fame. It is pretty much ironic because I have really had very rough moments years and many might be of the opinion that I should know better. Perhaps I do. I know that there’s no rule that says I have to wallow in difficulty just because the planet needs someone with whom it’ll to prove others that this isn’t Disneyland. There’s no rule that says things don’t get better and stay better, at least for a good measure of time. For me, believing that luck, purity, dream-come-trues and just a little magic are non-existent is just surrendering to defeat. I see all the evil floating carelessly and dropping unto the laps of unsuspecting people but for the sake of my sanity, I just have to believe that there are magical ways devised by forces of nature that tilt that scale just a little in the bid to create near-balance. I just need to live without fearing that death could snag me the next minute even though I know that that is an inevitable fact. I need to find happiness and freedom in my thoughts without being reminded every time that they might not be potent enough to become tangible tomorrow. I believe in the God who says that the desires of the righteous shall not be cut off; He set no boundaries to that. Now note that there is a line between a mere fantasy and desires but there are no limits to both. Wisdom is profitable to direct.

Who shares my sentiments?