I don’t know where to begin!
The night we got the news that you had passed on, to say we were devastated is an understatement. I was lost. It was quite the shock. May the 27th will make it three complete years and it somehow still feels like yesterday.
This post will be a tribute to what an awesome father you where to us!
Sir Aloysius Reginald Okwuzuluigbo was the greatest man and father there was, as far as I’m concerned.
Growing up, I remember him always going to work. And when he got back home, usually by 4pm, I and my siblings would start chanting “daddy is back hurray!” 😅😅.
Then there would be a race of who got to the door first to jump on him and give him the biggest hug. Life was simpler and happier then🙂.
If there was something he didn’t joke about, it was his kids. He took it upon himself to make sure our childhood was amazing.
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There was this mini inflatable bouncy castle type thing that he would always bring back from work. Then at night, after dinner, we would take turns jumping on it. It’s probably a small thing now, but then it meant the world to us.
HE WAS THE MOST JOVIAL SOUL KNOWN TO MAN
Oh my God. My old man had this rare gift of lighting up any room he entered. There was no way he would be in a room with you and you would not smile or at least notice his presence. His dad jokes were the best 😅😅.
He was always the MC in gatherings, especially at our compound end-of-the-year parties. Those where always fun 😅😅.
HE WAS VERY ATHLETIC AND MADE SURE WE WERE TOO
A fun fact about him, he was a great tennis player and swimmer. Every child in our compound loved him too because he was quite jovial.
Every Saturday, he would take my and siblings and I, along with other kids living in our compound, and load us all up in his car. Some would have to stay in the boot (trunk) because of space; the boot was connected to the back seat so they could easily climb into the back seat.
Then he would take us all to this tennis club that had a swimming pool for kids. We were always excited to go. That’s how I learned to swim. He would drop us off in the supervised pool, then go to play tennis with his friends.
When I think back to this experience, I feel privileged that he was once my dad😊.
HE WAS LEARNED
Once upon a time, my dad was an English teacher… or so I heard.
It wasn’t too hard to believe because growing up; you dare not commit a grammatical blunder around him HAHA. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I’m particular about my English. But he made sure that we all spoke perfect Queen’s English in the house. We didn’t even get to learn out mother tongue.
He's on the far left
He was quite a smart man too.
HE WAS ENCOURAGING AND PATIENT
My dad was probably encouraging to a fault 😅.
I will never forget when I took a gap year in between secondary school and university. I decided to use that year to learn how to cook. Guess who my unfortunate test subjects HAHA were; Mom and Dad.
My mom was doing most of the teaching while my dad ate whatever I cooked – he didn’t have a choice.
There is this particular dish called “swallow”, eaten with soups. There are different types of swallow actually but they’re mostly cooked the same way. When I was learning to make this dish, the finished work would always have huge lumps, which it typically shouldn’t have.
I would always serve my dad his food with the lumpy swallow and he would eat it joyfully without complaints. Then I would ask him afterwards, if he enjoyed it, and he’s response?
“You did well, it was so tasty”.
He didn’t even offer criticisms because he know I was trying my best😄.
It’s been three years and counting. I have learnt to live with the knowledge that I will never get to hug you again. Or that you won’t be there to walk me down the aisle. I hope that where you are, that you are safe and happy.
Much love from this side daddy.