March 6 was a momentous day for my family: Ghana Independence Day! 2023 marks the 66th anniversary of Ghana’s freedom and the day of an incredible celebration my family attended.
March 6 this year was a Monday, so the celebration happened the following Saturday, March 11. My day began with a quick trip to Groton. My mom hadn’t told me about this event until I was already home for break, so I didn’t have the dress I ended up wearing with me! However, all was well once we drove to campus the morning of the event to grab my clothes and other forgotten items.
Once my dress was secured, we relaxed. I helped my mom decide what to wear, and my family chilled around the house for most of the day. The event started at 7 p.m., so we weren’t stressed.
Around 5:30, everyone got up and started getting ready. It was a race to the showers (which I won, obviously). Then I put on my dress. Then my heels. Earrings next, and a necklace which I ended up taking off. I grabbed my jacket, and just like that I was ready! My mom was the last one ready (as usual). When she was done, we got into the car.
I remember about 5 minutes of the car ride when we were playing music and singing. I snapped a picture with my little sister at that point. For the rest of the journey, to be honest, I was fully asleep. It was a great nap!
The car ride felt very quick to me (for obvious reasons). So all of a sudden, we were there! Once inside, we found ourselves a table. Because of our punctuality, we found an empty table very quickly. The event began with announcements with many thanks to those who helped put the event together. Then the event planners called people by their tables to go get food. I was so happy to see that they had my favorite: Jollof!
The next part of the night was my favorite: DANCING! The DJ was fantastic and played a great mix of new songs for the teens and kids and oldies for the parents. I spent a long time on the dance floor with my mom and brother. My little sister acted as a photographer, taking blurry photos with my mom’s phone while seated at our table. (She definitely took breaks to play games, seeing as when I checked the pictures she had taken, there were only 4, and one was of herself!)
Dancing consumed a large part of the night, and time flew by. Around midnight, my family left the building and went to the car, absolutely exhausted. I took another great nap to close off the even better night. Happy Independence, Ghana!