It was a bright and sunny Sunday morning.
I always love Sunday mornings; not only because it is the Lord's Day, but also because it is considered a time we spend with our family.
That particular Sunday was also known as "Brownout Sunday" because the local electricity distributor here decided to schedule their "repair" of the power lines.
Makes me wonder why they always choose Sunday to work their schedules of brownouts. Of all the days in the week, they always pick Sunday. So my wife and I decided to go to the beach for a quick dip.
Luckily for us, the beach is just a few meters away. We can even walk there if we want to.
When we arrived at the beach, it was a low tide.
"Perfect," I said to myself.
Perfect in the sense that my daughter will love the sea because there was enough water for her to get wet and there was no wind. No big waves.
Just the sea, sand, and the sun.
As I walked to the sea with my daughter in my hand, she was already shouting for joy. She was very ecstatic and started playing with the sand and the sea. All I can see is the beautiful smile on her face.
As I watched my daughter play with the sand, I couldn't help but wonder how wonderful it feels to be a father.
I say wonderful because if you had asked me a few years ago, back in the time before I was married, I would have given a different answer if you asked me about fatherhood.
Fatherhood is defined as the state or time of being a father.
If you ask a single man about what it feels like to be a father, they can't answer the question. Much less even care about it. For them, fatherhood is a responsibility. A big responsibility. Sleepless nights, diapers, milk, and baby cries in the middle night.
Not exactly the type of life any single man will like. I used to think of it that way too.
My mindset at that time was, it is difficult to be a father.
Children are a burden. They are annoying. They are irritating to the ears.
Or so I thought.
But everything changed when I got married to the love of my life, my wife. When we were married, we were not immediately blessed with a child. We tried all ways to conceive, but it was not a success. Until such time that somebody told us to do this and that.
At first, we didn't believe it, we even laughed and doubted it. But we tried it anyway. And so we did what we were told. Miraculously, it works. we could not believe it.
Nine months later, my firstborn daughter was born. As I looked at my newborn, I could not believe that I was now a father.
Fast forward three years later, all I can say was, that it was all worth it.
Sleepless nights, diapers, milk, and baby cries in the middle of the night.
All worth it.