I WISH YOU COULD STAY FOREVER

love a father has for his child

Last thing I could vividly remember was his hand clutched tightly on mine with a slight nod as he bade me farewell to embark on my long journey.

It took me almost approximately 19hours to get to my destination by bus as a result of bad roads and unfavorable weather. Through out the journey his voice didn't leave me for too long as he was always calling to check up on me.

On the long journey away from from home

I finally got to my destination and sighed, "I'll really miss home", I said to myself. Deep down I knew I'll be okay but the thought of being away for so long didn't tickle my fantasy.

Well, I was here and I'll as well have to focus on why I'm here. School life isn't an easy thing especially in this part of the world where infrastructures are really lacking and means of livelihood is really high.

I got to settle after about a month, resumed school fully and started being engrossed with a lot of activities. I soon forgot about home slightly and kept living life every day as it came.

One month turned to five months and truthfully, hearing my dad's voice on the phone didn't really cut it for me. I know he can be really strict at times, unbearable and even hard as a rock but I knew he loved us dearly(his children) and would do anything to ensure that his kids get educated and wouldn't have to go through what he went.

My dad is a hard worker and at a very tender age he was exposed to the harsh realities of life starting when everyone was convinced his father died in the then civil war between Nigeria and Biafra. Being the first born child he had to take up the responsibility of taking care of his mother and siblings.

When his father finally came back and he thought he was going to take a break, his father died mysteriously in less than ten years onto his return.

Things got from bad to worse as he rapidly became a man he had to face the harsh realities of life in the city of Lagos.

Soon enough, he met my mom, fell in love, then he had us, three lovely children, I'll fill you in on whole story some other time.

So back to me, miles away from home in another state. I kept wondering how life was like for them especially because I heard about another wave of the Coronavirus, I was worried but before I could even place a call through to them, my dad called with very keen interest asking me to be very careful, to wear a nose mask whereever I went and to be very prayerful. I let out a little smirk because he still treated me like a little child.

Days came where I was really down, sometimes I fell sick and there was no one to really take care of me and I'll remember how my dad always ran helter skelter to see to it that we were always in good health, ahh I miss him.

I miss his stories about life in the village, about our cultures and traditions. When I look back and see the man I am today it's always been as a result of his teachings, not excluding my mom in any way but this post is for my dad,lol.

Things were getting harder by the day and I could now see reason when he tells me there's no money to send for my upkeep, so I decided to looks for ways to earn little cash.

Then, on the first day of August, I got a call from my dad saying he was coming to see me. At first I thought he was obviously pulling my legs but I then got to see that he was serious.

I was overjoyed but still worried how hell cope travelling all the way for almost 19hrs. But then I remembered how strong my dad was and pushed the thought aside.

I called him through his journey to know how well it was coming along and he always sounded calm and unmoved. He finally arrived really late and got to stay the night at a friend's place.

At around 5:30am this morning my phone rang, surprisingly it was my dad. I wondered why he was calling me so early in the morning. I picked up the call only to hear him say he wanted to see me right away that I should take a bus directly to where he was.

I told him it was too early but he replied saying, "I've seen a lot of buses running around this morning, it won't be hard for you to find your way down here".

Knowing my dad, I didn't argue one bit, I just got dressed and boarded a bus directly to where he directed me to. I got there, waited for a while and then I saw him, far ahead walking towards me. I'm sure I wasn't mistaken, I could see his perfectly round head placed on a big tummy and not too tiny legs. I'm really bad at descriptions, lol.

If you're already picturing the kind of reunion you see in movies where they both run towards each other, climb on their bodies and hug the life out of themselves amidst tears, well, you'll have to delete that picture and take a new one . Here's actually how it happened;

What a hearty reunion

I walked up to him with smiles on my face(not the kind of smile you see me wear on a normal day because I was genuinely happy). I noticed though that he had reduced in weight and his always big tummy now barely hung on his body.
He was still as handsome as ever wearing a black t-shirt on a black trouser with black palms (the man never seems to miss being fashionable), he looked younger maybe because he slimed down a little.

He smiled back at me, called my name and stretched out his hand to meet my already stretched hand. We had a firm handshake until he pulled me close to his side and hugged me. His side felt warm, felt safe and still felt protective.

We hugged for a while and went on to chat about how life has been like for the past 8months. After talking for a while, he told me he had something to give me, I was wondering what is was but was secretly hoping it was a new perfume or watch because he had really good taste when it came to those.

To my surprise, he brought out a pair of clothes that had been sewn for him. He said he hadn't worn it once and had kept it for me. I laughed and the little guy inside my mind said "this man has not changed 😂😂", because both of us knew I was way slimmer and his clothes wouldn't really size me but I had no choice but to accept them gratefully because I knew it came from his heart.

He then gave me other stuffs and also went on to give me words of advice. I realized how much I had missed this encouraging talks and I really appreciated them more this time. We ate together like we'd never been apart and when we were done, he prayed for me. More like passed blessings onto me.

I didn't want to leave but I knew I had other things to do and he had to leave too.

We both left on our separate ways knowing it would take a long time before we got to see ourselves again.

I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures, I was too engrossed catching up on lost times to even remember. Y'all would have to forgive me.

Thanks for taking time to read this and have an insight into my life 😌.

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