Words For My Pictures

Every year when Victory of Adowa is celebrated in Addis on  2nd of March, a small contingent of  " Veterans" come to celebrate wearing different former arm uniforms.  They wear uniforms ranging from Emperor Haile Selassie's imperial bodyguard to Grand uniform of the Revolutionary Army of Ethiopia and often a mix of different uniforms from different eras.  As their uniforms, their medals are also diverse. Service medals from the emperors time to the Ethio Somali war of the 1970's service medal are common. The old men in uniform, chant in the traditional war chant and parade in their mixed uniforms adding color and interest to the occasion which by itself is not a dramatic event as the victory that it commemorates. All who fought The battle of Adowa which happened 123 years ago are dead. Ethiopian Warriors led by Emperor Menelik won the battle by crashing the Italian colon...

My mother used to get my picture taken on my birthday or when my birthday is approaching. Most of the time she takes me to a photo studio or get someone who has a camera to take my picture. If she can not make it she would ask my brother, my father or anyone available to take me there.  I remember ones my cousin who was living with us at that time had to take me with her for the annual ritual.  There are gaps and many lost pictures but the pictures that I still have are enough to show how much I have changed. From the baby pictures to the toddler picture, from the toddler pictures to pre-teen photos and it goes on. But the older I got the fewer birthday portraits I had. Ones my mother is gone it didn't cross my mind to keep having birthday portraits.  Now after many years laps I have taken a self-portrait when my birthday approached this year. It was not even meant to be the birthday portrait but the time that I took ...