If i should stumble on a time machine that will take me back to the most cherished memory i have, i will not hesitate to make use of it, without thinking if i will come back alive or not. The one memory i would love to experience again is the memory of which my father was still with us and we were a complete, happy family.
Where i grew up, it is seen as a normal thing to come from a broken home. Whereas, as at that time my family was complete and happy and there is this respect for us in the town because we were like nobles even though we do not have much. There is this extraordinary joy in me that i can point at my father as being responsible and that he loved me and my siblings even with the fact that we are all girls. Imagine when you wake up on a Saturday morning and your almighty father has prepared breakfast, in a typical Nigerian home, Yoruba tribe to be precise. It is kind of unbelievable. The joy of telling your friends at school that, oh, "my father walked me to school this morning, he carried my school back for me and i was walking beside him, holding his large hand".
From time to time i still remember these happy memories and tears will roll down my cheek. You know when you think you are healed or relived of a particular pain but it is just there laying domant and waiting for you to activate it. The memory of my father backing my little sister whenever mother is not around. The memory of wearing a father's cloth on the daughter whenever she is sick because the father traveled and like magic, she gets better. The joy of anticipating that my father will be home the next day because i know he will not come empty handed. Infact, my father once tried braiding my hair because mother was angry at me and she refused to braid my hair. Though he could not make the hair, he styled it to two-babies dancing, like we do call it around here. You know when you have this feeling of, My father's got my back
I would love to experience again the jokes my father tells and the way he plays with me and my siblings like we are mate. People do say that, when you have a daughter, as the father, you will one day dress like a Cinderella. He allows us to put makeup on him even though our mother must never catch us. There was even this time he wore our mother's skirt so he could do a dance with us. He is the kind of father that will discipline us when necessary and reward us when necessary.
In a twinkle of an eye, father changed and my whole world crumbled. It is just like breaking up with the love of your life and you just want time to freeze and everywhere to be quiet all because you need mental tranquility. So yes, if i should really stumble on a time machine, i will not think twice before hopping on and holding tight. Its worth it.