FOREVER INSPIRED; A Fathers' Day Dedication to Daddy

What would a father give to a daughter if he did not have so much to give?

Not being the world's richest man, he would not give me a legacy on a silver platter. But being a teacher's son himself, he knew the power that knowledge held. And this power was hidden. It was the power in reading, discovering knowledge, being knowledgeable and speaking with courage and confidence with that knowledge.

Each day he brought back The New Vision with a children's section. What I remember about the children's magazine was the dotted puzzle that was so intriguing, the inspirational stories about children I admired to be, faces of models of Araparapa kids models, child musicians like Baby Gloria, short stories etc. 

Then the story books started trickling in. One such a story that stuck to my memory to this day was about a Golden Statue Prince who instructed a poor girl to sell out, one by one, his precious jewels including his golden feathers, magical sword, and eyes, to save his suffering kingdom, till he had nothing to give and faded away, but the kingdom was saved. 

By the time I clocked ten years, I was a fully-fledged Library member at my primary school. I had read a number of books off the self. The Librarian was my closest friend, for she gave me special access to the library. By 16 years, I had read hundreds and hundreds of books and pioneered a Novel reading circle at school. We borrowed and retold all the novels read, and after "prep" time was the time! Each night we retold a story, each day we exchanged a book, and each day we fell deeper in love with words...

For all the years I had read, I think I intrinsically became a writer. Words started bubbling in my head, fighting to be released...fighting to be put on paper, or just be spoken. I would just look at nature and have a story flowing in my head or put my head on the pillow and boom, lines start running just like that. I wrote journals and journals, short stories, poems, and whatever I could that my mother started to understand that Literature was a big part of my life, the reason I majored in it at University and taught it for four years. She suggested I start serious writing and have my work published.

On the other hand, my daddy made it a point to make me a personal library. One day he came back from the carpenter with a personalized Bookshelf. Together we stocked it, and he had a section for his newspapers, and I had the biggest for my BOOKS. My mother played the ''safe keeper'' role, making sure that the toddlers at home did not tamper with the ''precious library,'' or else he wouldn't be pleased at all. When I skipped a meal to read a book under the covers, he pleaded with my mother to let me be. He fully understood my ''madness''.

That is my Daddy! The only man who taught me how to read from I do not remember when. The only man who fully understands the joy that reading a single book can bring me. If all he could read was newspapers, he made it his mission for me to be able to read the ''whole wide world'', and to write. I have been to so many places in my head, felt both agony and joy in the worlds I have been transported to. In my deepest fears, frustrations and loneliness, I have written. In my joyful days, I have written. When faced with uncertainties, I have read. And when pressed against a hard rock and a hard place, I have critically thought, for;

''A CHILD who READS will be an ADULT who THINKS.''

I am that child...and that is the GIFT he gave me. Am sure you are very proud of the THINKER I have became, Daddy, and I am forever inspired by your dedication to make me a great woman! 

Every day is Fathers' Day for us. That we can sit on the veranda as you listen to me bubble my ''ambitious'' dreams, that we can sit on a mat to talk about our achievements, discuss our fears and brainstorm solutions. So many times, we have talked on phone, for despite being independent, you still want to be a part of my life as I traverse different places in a bid to fulfill our dreams. You have consoled my mother to let me be, let me travel and explore places she has never been to, for you know the Daughter you raised. You raised a THINKER and a resilient one.

Happy Fathers' Day Once Again!