It happened some 15 years ago. I attended Mass with my sister that Sunday morning and I was pretty
sleepy as a result of not sleeping early the previous night.(#teamnightcrawler) So during
offertory(offering time) my sis told me to take a stroll to the church bookshop in a bid to chase sleep away.

I got up and left right after I had dropped my offering and made my way towards the bookshop. Immediately I got outside, a lady approached me speaking Yoruba. From what I can remember she asked me, "What is it? What is your name?" I was confused and pretended I couldn't understand what she was saying coz I didn't want to give a right answer to her questions which would indulge her so I replied, "I don't understand". The next thing was SMACK!! across my cheeks and I was dazed! The sleep didn't waste time to clear from my eyes. What in heaven's name just happened? Wow. Before I could realize myself and the situation at hand, it was quite late. I quickly turned back and made my way inside the church to inform my sis about what happened and by the time we got out, the lady was gone.

Before I went back into church, something occurred to me. There were a few people who had witnessed what happened between me and the lady and nobody made an attempt to come to my rescue. Years later, I derived a few lessons from that incident;

• Stand Up For Yourself- In this life, you always have to make the first attempt to salvage any situation you find yourself in. You have to fight for yourself before anyone can see your effort and then decide to help you out or not. Maybe if I hadn't been so dazed after been hit by the lady and quickly retaliated, someone might have come to ask what the problem was. But then I was just 11 years old. What could I have possibly done?

• Family Always Have Your Back- No matter how much they piss you off and make you mad, they're always there for you. The way my sis jumped up when I told her what happened was enough to ease the pain away. The concern and urge to protect and defend me was incredible.

• People Don't Really Care- Yes, most people only care about themselves. I understand that one needs to mind their business but then, you see a little girl been hit right across the face and you act like nothing happened. In church for that matter. Thank God I wasn't really alone after all.

• Not Every Well-dressed Person Is Mentally Sound- Believe me, there are a lot of sick people on the streets who look so beautiful and handsome that you'd never guess something is wrong with them. This lady was well dressed and that was one of the reasons that even made me stand to listen to her in the first place.

• Walk Away- Some situations require no attention at all. Just walk away while you still have the time to do so. Immediately I heard her speaking Yoruba I should have walked away but being inquisitive, I wanted to hear what she had to say. And I got more than I expected.

Whenever I remember that day, I imagine what would have happened if it had occurred like 2 years ago. Lol! Anyway, lessons learned.
My birthday is in 5 days and I'm super excited! I got the best birthday gift from God himself and I would share the good news with y'all very soon. Hope you're having an awesome week so far.

Be right back,
Evita, xx.