Little surprise spreads love and happiness.

The days are running out so quickly, the time between the weekends is shorter than it use to be. I use to observe it when I was younger but it looks so new to me again like I haven't experienced such a season before. Just a few days ago, we greeted ourselves with "happy new week" and by tomorrow we will say "Happy Weekend" to one another again.

I told my younger brother that I can feel Christmas in the air but he laughed it off and teased me, I wasn't offended since I am used to his style.

The Christmas season is important to me not because of the celebration but because it holds a very special place in my heart, this season was the last time I saw my dad and it's been over a decade. He is not dead but we live millions of miles between us but I still love to hear his voice and be sure he is doing great, those memories are very precious to me and even though I am losing the touch, the early morning cold during the festive season brings the memories back.

Thursday has been great so far, something happened today and it really made me happy.

There is this man ( who is a vulcanizer) around the farm who is very jovial and supportive, we usually talk and gist a lot. He does share his life experience with me very well because he wanted me to learn lessons from his mistakes and he has a lot to offer such as land if I am ready to own mine, he advertises the fish farm as it belongs to him and he has brought good customers to purchase fishes.

Another thing he does that touches my heart is that he usually gets cow waste (intestines, fat, and others) for me to feed my fishes. He is an expert when it comes to killing cattle for events so whenever he is been called for a job he doesn't hesitate to bring the waste no matter how tired he is.

Earlier this week, he told me on the 25th of November is his birthday and I immediately had it in mind that I would give him a small token but he mentioned that he hasn't marked a birthday in his life before and I was surprised.

Plans changed immediately but I didn't know what to do, I had the intention of getting a small cake and probably wine but last night while I was at the farm, a caterer around the farm approached and ask if I could support them with some things because they wanted to do a surprise for the man. That should make you understand how people loved him in the neighborhood, I asked what the plan was and she said, she would make a cake, some snacks, and drinks.

That sounds perfect, it would relieve me of the stress so I gave her a few bucks and a few kilos of fish for pepper soup. She was happy and I made it clear that no one must know about my contribution to the surprise to which she agreed.

When I went to the farm very early this morning to feed the fishes, she was done with the cake so she gave me some because she wanted me to have it due to my contribution, I was reluctant to take it but deep in my heart, I was happy because it is hard for me to resist cake.

I took it and went home to devour it, it tasted really good but my siblings wouldn't allow me to enjoy it.

On getting to the farm this afternoon to feed the fishes again, I didn't see the trace of birthday but I wasn't bothered. I saw the caterer running towards me, she said she knew I would come at noon so she waited till I came around. Women can be very funny, they have gathered and we all marched to his shop with the cake, he was surprised.

We all gathered around him to say a prayer and he was saying "amen" with a shaky voice, I saw his face filled with emotions and he was not expecting it. He couldn't alter a word after the prayer and when he did, he said "Ese gan, Inu mi dun lopolopo". It means, Thank you very much, I am extremely happy.

We all departed and the women went back to their businesses, I saw the caterer whispering to the celebrant's ears. I was about to take off when the man ran towards me and said, thank you very much in Yoruba. I am a shy type and wouldn't engage in such conversation so I just smiled and went my way, the celebration would kick off by 4 pm because he has plans of entertaining people since he already got some drinks for his friends but it seems our surprise made it bigger because it drew the attention of people in the neighborhood.

I will miss the party because I won't be going there until 7 pm when I will feed the fishes again and what matters most to me is the happiness on the man's face.

I felt happy playing a little part in making the man's birthday a memorable one, I think there are little things we don't take seriously that can spread love and happiness in the heart of many. Let try to always do the little we can to share love and happiness.

I miss my dad and I am sure he does too but he wouldn't admit it, wishing him and his family a happy life.

I am sorry I didn't upload the faces in the image, I hope you understand why. If I had my way, I wouldn't like to share the pictures at all but I just need to share the proof of the surprise.

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