Honouring Parents

My parents are humble and responsible. They had my brothers and I attend church every Sunday and work hard in school, something that made us grow to be educated, God-fearing and law-abiding citizens. And tell me, what greater gift than education can parents bestow to their children?

For me, I can never thank my parents enough for all they have done for me. They have always been there for me for as long as I can remember.

My mother carried me in her womb for nine good months. Then she endured a lot of pain when she was giving birth to me on 31st December 1987. Had she been careless in her pregnancy and during my birth, I wouldn't be bursting with health as I am now.

After I successfully emerged into this world, my mother was always there for me in the first two fragile years of my life. She had to breastfeed me whenever I cried and change my nappies whenever I wetted them. I must have awakened her on several nights.

When I grew old enough to feed and bathe myself, my mother ensured I had proper clothes to wear and food on the table. Day after day, I watched her wake up in the morning to go run her shop in my hometown of Kiserian. Thanks to her efforts, I never went begging for money in the streets.

My father, a freelance accountant, has also played a pivotal role in my life. When I was in primary school, he tutored me in math right from Standard 1 so that I could excel in school. He also encouraged me to read novels and write compositions. I think that was why I grew up wanting to be a writer.

When I was pursuing my high school education at Starehe Boys' Centre, my father came to school regularly to check on me and then leave me with some pocket money. He was so proud of me when I scored an 'A' in KCSE exams that he bought me a quality polo shirt as a reward.

Then when I joined Starehe Institute in 2006 to pursue a diploma in information technology, my father encouraged me to apply to top colleges in the United States. He paid for my SAT exams which the colleges require applicants to take. Unfortunately, I didn't get accepted at any of the colleges I applied for admission.

Today, I am blessed to have both of my parents alive. My mother has long since stopped running her shop after she suffered a stroke in 2013. She stays at home where I assist her do tasks since the stroke paralyzed the left side of her body. But my father still works as a freelance accountant in Nairobi.

Because I am now more tech-savvy than my parents, I am usually their go-to guy when they get stuck on their smartphones, especially my mother. I often help them because I feel it's the best way I can repay them for all they have done for me.

My beloved reader, I urge you to also honour your parent(s) if one or both of them are still alive. Don't wait till they die to do so. As someone asked, why take their bodies to a mortuary when they never saw a hospital while sick? Why suits when they are dead yet they wore torn clothes when alive? Why buy them comfortable caskets when their beds were a punishment? Why hire a classy hearse when you never even bought them a wheelbarrow? Why cement their graves while they lived in leaking houses? And why last respect when they never knew it while alive?