#photographicmemory is a feature in which someone sends in a nostalgic photo of themselves and writes about it. It was created because sometimes you can find out more about a person by asking them to describe a photo of themselves than by asking them a ton of questions. It was also created because it’s nice to look at pretty photos.
One thing that those closest to me are quick to recognise is that I am a hugely indecisive person. So when I was asked to pick a nostalgic photo for this feature, it turned out to be yet another challenging task to add to my embarrassingly long dilemma list (like a to-do list, but more stressful). I am a picture person; I take photos of absolutely everything. There is something wonderful about the ability photos have to evoke a whole range of emotions from us and I ultimately chose this photo as it perfectly represented most of the joyful sentiments that I have been fortunate enough to experience in my life so far.
This photo was taken in Uganda, a beautiful country in East Africa that I am lucky enough to call home. The people in the photo alongside me are my brothers and a few of my cousins. I come from a typical African family where children are often led to believe that any person remotely close to their family must automatically qualify as their relative. This misleading concept is only made worse by the fact that children are often instructed to call most of these supposed ‘relatives’ by their corresponding labels – cousin/aunt/uncle etc.
The people in this photo however are what some could call my ‘real’ cousins and funnily enough I have more of these than I can count without the added confusion! At the time this photo was taken, my family had been living in London for a few years and going home to Uganda for the summer holidays had become the undisputed highlight of the year. It included visits to my grandparent’s home, lots of swimming, playing games of tag/cops & robbers (which often ending in tears and countless injuries), all kinds of food we had been missing while we were away and of course, 100% guaranteed sunshine.
This photo reminds me that growing up surrounded with lots of cousins, ‘real’ or otherwise, has been one of the greatest blessings and influences in my life. It truly encapsulates our familiarity with one another. We’ve grown up together, learnt from each other and, surprisingly enough managed to put up with each other long enough to make some new memories (sadly, these involve less games of tag than I would have hoped). To me, family really is everything.
Renata Nyakairu
Renata Nyakairu has just finished her fourth year as a Law student at the University of Edinburgh. She enjoys talking about Beyoncé, attending Beyoncé concerts and generally ALL THINGS BEYONCÉ. In her spare time, Renata has recently begun running. She hopes that in putting it down in a bio it will equate her to committing to it for life. This may or may not come to fruition.
If you’re interested in getting involved with PTL – drop us an email on prancingthroughlife@live.com.