Dear Mimi

Dear Mimi,

How are you? Well, actually, I know exactly how you are. You’re bored out of your mind aren’t you?

Right now, you’re probably at home watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer because you are still yet to realize how silly that show really is. You’re also waiting for your SSCE results to be released and hoping it comes out in time for you to start filling that college application form bought with love by The Brother, and sent down from his campus in Accra. Your mind is running in a million different directions thinking of what your near future might look like. Well, that’s exactly why I wrote you this letter. To give you an idea about how things turned out in the next few years. A sort of peek into your destiny if you will. 

Well, the first thing I want to tell you is that you didn’t end up in The Brother’s school after all. It’s a long story but-actually no it really isn’t. By the time your admission letter turned up, you were already a registered student at the School you swore you’d never in a million years attend. Yeah, that one where you can’t dye your hair like you really wanted to and have to wear a skirt at all times. Sorry. It wasn’t so bad though, you met some really cool people and grew to appreciate the power of a perfectly fitted pencil skirt.


More importantly, this was also around the time when your relationship with the Lord grew in leaps and bounds, and you did things you’d never done before. It was truly amazing how differently you began to view the world and your place in it. Those were special times.


During your holidays, you had to do a number of internships. It was part of the requirement for the course you chose to study you see. This was where you got your first taste of what it felt like to join the rat race and work for a living. It was equal parts horrible and delightful all at the same time. You had to wake up at 4:30am everyday so you could make the commute to your office. That really sucked. But there were good times as well, like when you picked up your first pay check, and immediately spent most of it on a new pair of black, suede peep toe shoes. They were well worth it though.



This was also when you met that boy.



When you were done with school, you interned at this other really cool place because you didn’t want to sit at home bored while you waited for your call up letter. So while your mates were chilling, you were waking up early and rushing to work everyday, yeah you’re anal like that.



You got sent far away from home for service year. Don’t worry though; the whole thing wasn’t quite as traumatic as you feared. You ended up staying back there against your wishes at first but then grew to love the place as you went on to meet another set of really cool folks.



I want you to know that you now have a nephew, and as opposed to what your huge ego was telling you for months, he looks absolutely nothing like you. Well except for the eyes, which as you well know is a family trademark.



Ivory is a big girl now; she’s all grown up and in the University. By the way, well done o, as it turned out, you’ve created a fashion monster. No matter what she might say, just know that all those years of playing dress up with her, and teaching her how to mix and match made her develop some serious shakara (we call it swagger now). I’m serious, her own pass me sef, it’s getting out of control but what can I really do except buy her more shoes.



Before I forget, please stop thinking of Olly and Cherry as your benchmark for the perfect relationship. I really don’t want to corrupt your innocent mind; but there’s so much nastiness going on in there that you’ll be shocked when you eventually get to find out. It takes more than being really pretty and having a boyfriend who’s well known to have a healthy dynamic in your relationship. The last I heard she had dropped out of school and he had moved to a different country and they have nothing but unpleasant memories between them.


By the way, Ms Knowsitall got knocked up and had to marry her baby daddy is married now. She was one of the first people you know to tie the knot.


For those fleeting moments when you wonder, yes you have in fact stopped growing. You will after all have to spend the rest of your life having to deal with Mummy calling you short. Just keep reminding her that 5”5 is considered average height for a woman. You are also still not a size eight (well actually you are in The States and even smaller) but you have learnt to deal it and moved on.



If I could give you any peace of advice, I’d tell you to relax, be nicer and stop watching Buffy!

Whatever will happen, will happen, and I promise you’ll always have help to deal with whatever The Lord allows life to send your way. Please, please, please be nicer. Not everyone has ulterior motives. As for Buffy, well, first of all it is just plain evil. Being best friends with a Witch who likes to summon demons for fun is just wrong, no matter how fun/cool/not creepy-at-all they try to make it look. Also, like I said earlier, it’s just a silly show. 

Some things have really changed:

Uncle J is now filthy rich

You grew to love shrimps

Miss P is married to a white man

But others haven’t:


You hate Macaroni

Mumsie yells-a-lot

NEPA (we call them PHCN now) still ‘takes light’


I really can’t remember anything else that you might like to know. Sorry if I left anything out but the truth is you’ll find out soon enough anyway. But I hope I’ve really covered most of the important stuff.


Guess what though? I still have my prom dress somewhere in my closet and yes it still fits perfectly.

See you in the future.


Cheers