God blessed my brothers and I with the best Dad we could ever have wished for. He has always been there for us, rarely spending a night away from home. And he has always taken a keen interest in our lives ever since we were small boys.
It is Dad who introduced us to the fascinating world of books. Right from when we were young, he encouraged us to read widely and wisely. He urged us to devour novels like Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe while seeing to it that we excelled in our studies at school.
Probably because he is an accountant, maths was his forte. So he gave us home lessons in maths when we were in primary school. Thanks to those home lessons, I learnt a few mathematical wonders before my classmates did at school. Wonders such as subtracting 7 from 3, something I previously thought impossible.
Dad also seemed to have an intuitive understanding of how writing can improve the quality of our thinking and ultimately the quality of our lives. For how else can you explain the effort he took to correct the letters and compositions he had us write?
A couple of years ago, my kid brother Symo recounted in our WhatsApp group how, when he was a boy, he copied a story from a textbook and presented it to Dad as his own composition. Dad went ahead to correct several sentences in the composition. He was such a grammar Nazi.
Although he is well past 70 years now, Dad still plays an active role in our lives. He sometimes dishes out advice to us, especially to Symo who is based in the British island of Bermuda. And he occasionally sends us informative messages and video clips on WhatsApp.
Here at home, Dad ensures we have food, water and electricity. He especially likes it when there are eggs and fruits for me to feast on. And by attending the meetings of a certain home-area association, he keeps us in touch with our neighbours.
Before Mum passed away about two months ago, Dad used to impress me with his devotion to her. Without complaining, he regularly washed her clothes and cleaned up after her. He also bought her anything she desired, such as skirts, phone credit and seeds for planting.
Since we laid Mum to rest, Dad has developed some health complications that are similar to those Mum had. At first, he complained of pain in his left knee. The pain made it difficult for him to walk for a long distance.
As the days have rolled by, Dad's complications have grown worse. He is now walking with the crutches that were Mum's. Whenever he has to travel anywhere, he has to hire a taxi because he can't cover the distance from home to our nearest town on foot.
Last Tuesday when Dad arrived home from the hospital, he called me and then asked me to help him ascend a short flight of stairs to our mansion - the same thing Mum used to ask us to do.
Again like Mum, Dad is now requesting me to go for his phone when it rings while he is far from it. Soon, I know he will be ordering me to serve visitors with tea the way Mum used to have me do.
It's saddening to observe Dad lose his physical abilities when I recall how hardworking and self-reliant he has always been. But that's life.
As I continue living with Dad in our beautifully rustic home here in Kiserian, I don't want to commit the same sins I did to my late mother. Imagine there were times I would flatly refuse to attend to Mum when she needed my assistance.
On one Sunday afternoon in 2015 for instance, Mum implored me to place a chair for her outside our house. After I declined her request several times, she blurted out words that still haunt me to this day. She yelled at me in Kikuyu, "When I die, never come near my grave!"
Fortunately, Mum appeared happy with me before that Sunday ended. And over the last four years before she died, I strived to be there for her. But I would sometimes refuse to do things for her, which made her refer to me as the errant son.
Such are the kind of sins I don't want to repeat on Dad now that he is becoming disabled like Mum. Even though I can't tease him the way I used to do to Mum because he is naturally a reserved person, I will at least help him out in anything he is unable to do.
By helping Dad, I will be obeying the Commandment which says, "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. (Exodus 20:12)" And that's the first Commandment with a promise. Ciao!
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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on how Dad has developed complications, you might also enjoy another one on "Dad's Heart Surgery" which I wrote last year. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.
Dad Develops Complications
A True Story
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