My mum has a side of her that many people don’t know. Sometimes, she acts like a little sister; one who needs to be pampered, teased and cared for. My dad too… honestly, he amazes me at times. My mum exaggerates things whenever she wants you to do something for her  and for a long time, I thought I was the only child in the house. Until I realized that adults can be as childish as you would never imagine.

Who am I to blame them? They were once young, full of life, laughter and stubborn wants.

This realization reminded me of an incident I witnessed at a store. An old man wanted to buy three sachets of milk, so he requested three sachets. When the woman brought them, they were already cut into pieces. The man suddenly stopped her and insisted that he wanted the three sachets cut together.

In my head, I thought, it’s the same thing. I even walked up to explain this to him, but he claimed the woman had cheated him. I was stunned.

Later, when I narrated the incident to my mum, she smiled and explained something that stayed with me. She said that in the man’s mind, three sachets are meant to be cut together just like when you were little and didn’t want something already broken into halves. You wanted it whole first, then cut right in front of you.

That was when it dawned on me:

Agba ò kẹ́wẹ́ — being an elder does not stop one from being a child at heart. The child in them never really grows old.