It's Fathers' Day tomorrow and honestly, I couldn't come up with something special to do for my dad. It's only recently, once I got over those troubled years when all I thought was that my folks didn't understand me, that I really started appreciating everything they have done and continue to do for me. You see, my dad is a quiet man. It's very easy to forget that he is very present in my life. We have a relationship but it's not as open and free as it is with my mum. Granted, I think I am more free with my dad than most people I know, I do sometimes wish we could be on friendlier terms. But hey, I know he loves me and would get the moon for me if I needed it.
For this year's Fathers' Day, I thought I would write a tribute to this man whom I love and cherish.
My dad has taught me very many lessons, even in his silent mannerisms. I will highlight three of them below and hope you can add those lessons you have learned from the fathers in your life.
1. How a man should treat me as his woman.
My parents have been married for a while, a long while, and I sometimes wonder how they make it work. I look at my dad's relationship with my mum, how they do things together (e.g. he picks and drops her at work everyday and has been taking her to the market since before we were born) and how he relates to her even when they are a bit at odds and I know that that is how I want my husband/boyfriend to treat me. I love that he respects her as a woman and as a brilliant person. When he has to give a talk somewhere or I remember when he was writing his book, he asked mum for her opinion, asked her to review the content and even went as far as including her name in the list of authors. Whenever they have to go somewhere, they go together, even when it's clear that he would much rather be sitting at home doing his things. He provides for all our needs, both necessary and unnecessary. My dad always puts our needs before his own. I have never known him to be a stingy or selfish man.
My dad has set the bar high for the man who will come into my life.
2. His love and care for his children.
When I was in school, my dad was always around. He would drop us in school each morning and pick us up every evening of everyday. He was always there if we needed him and the one day a week when he had a late meeting we always knew what time to expect him. He did this for 17 years and it's only when my youngest sister finished high school that you could say he started doing those things he had been putting on hold as he waited for his children to grow up.
One short story that has just come to mind, when I was pregnant with Elly, yes, I was and still am living at home, I would sometimes text him and tell him, "Dad please buy me watermelon" or "Please buy me biscuits" and guess wheat? When I woke up the next day, he would have bought what I had asked for.
3. Having a good relationship with God.
There is nothing my dad will not stand for, except when it comes to matters of prayer and having a relationship with God. He taught us to pray from a very young age. We would pray together as a family and we went to Church together every Sunday. Even now, wherever we are, he always asks, "Did you go to church?". He has ingrained it in us that we have to put God at the center of everything that we do. He has also made it clear to us that we cannot afford to be lax about our faith. We must be strong and alert especially when it comes to those people who will try to sway us this way and that.
What lessons have you learned from your dad or from other fathers around you? Do share in the comments below.