A Walk Down Memory Lane

Because Kiserian was bustling with life in the '90s, I made many friends. One girl I remember but can't really say I befriended was Irene, a daughter of Miss Alice, my Standard 1 to Standard 3 teacher.

Some years ago when I visited Naru-Moru Primary School where Miss Alice taught me, I was surprised to learn she was still in the school. We had a short cozy chat during which she told me Irene now works for the Kenya Police Service.

As for the boys I befriended, one of them was Robert Kahando who made me jealous, perhaps because he was more handsome than me. But we have remained friends over the years.

Then there was Thomas Waweru who was a classmate of my eldest brother Joe Kagigite. In 1995, Waweru was charged with the responsibility of opening our classrooms. He therefore had to report to school early.

The streams, the small valleys, the sloping paths we trod on - these were the landmarks in our lives. And so were Ngong Hills that form the western horizon of Kiserian.

Virtually all the streams that crisscross my home area are seasonal but they turn into mighty rivers during the rainy seasons. Back in the '90s, I sometimes heard they swept people away.

Yes, even the sloping paths we trod on were landmarks in our lives. And that's where I developed a love of walking which came in handy last year when I wanted to lose weight.

While walking on those paths in 1995, my classmates James Koigi, Timothy Ndiki and I sang our names and the year we were in. We would, for example, sing, "John Thuita Maina, 1995."

Several years ago when I touched base with Ndiki, he reminded me of that ditty as we reminisced about those halcyon days of our childhood years. We didn't have such a bad childhood after all.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "Childhood Memories".