On a visit to my aunt

In our language “Kirundi”, aunt is called “Senge” and I like so much how it sounds. In our tradition, Senge is considered to be the most loved relative by its nephews and somehow it really applies in my case. I have so many loving, nice and cool aunties and Marceline is among them. Thereby, I am sharing with you our visit to my Senge during our holidays more than a year ago in Burundi!

Although it was a rainy day, we were so excited about our preparations, getting ready while waiting for the car. It took us at least an hour to get everything in place so that we could finally head off. It was exciting because we did it in our countryside way: deciding what we were going to bring her, picking out the basket in which we were going to put the items and the decor.

Simon was so disappointed that he was not good at finding a nice banana leave to put on the basket! Mum proved to us that she has the expertise in the matter. She changed what Simon did in the first place and made another ornament which worked out perfectly and we were ready to go.

To my big surprise, on the way, we met my aunt’s son and gave him a ride to my aunt’s house. I haven’t seen him in years, I really did not remember when I saw him for the last time (15 years maybe). We caught up and were so happy to see each other again. I was impressed and at the same time moved when he told me that once he retired, he decided to come back to the village to look after his mom who is approximately 90 years old and was left alone.

At our arrival, Senge was sitting in front of the house. She did not recognize me at first which I expected. To make sure she remembered me, I told her my father’s name and she looked at me again. Then, she said “I will never forget “Misago”, I will forget him when I will die. I pulled in some tears as we were getting inside. She was so happy to see her grandchildren and was asking for their dad. She forgot that 6 years ago Stefan, me, Jessica and Vanessa passed by her house and had a wonderful time together.

My cousin looks very much like my father. I couldn’t help but stare at him while he was telling us stories about his time in Europe during the 80s and 90s. Nestor was a military communication engineer in aviation. During his career, he did some training in Ukraine, Switzerland and France. He was so amused to say some Ukrainian words and talk about his experiences in France where he made great friends. He even showed us pictures of his good friend French family.

We stayed at least 2 hours during which Nelson was sleeping in Senge’s bed. Meanwhile, Jessica, Vanessa and William took the opportunity to explore what was in the backyard. They found a mushroom, some cows, sheep and goats.

We all were so grateful that we saw each other again after such a long time. We said goodbye with the hope that there will be a next time! Unfortunately, there will be no next time with Senge as she passed away this summer, 15 months after our visit. Although I’m heartened that she’s no longer with us, I’m very grateful to have all these memories with her and especially that my children had the privilege of knowing her.

Rest in peace, my dear Senge. We will always love you!