My remnant dad

My remnant dad

Oh you must meet my dad, he is something else. I mean, the guy is seventy but as agile and alive as ever. Just a month ago he came back from a fortnight-long trip around West Africa. He came back bragging about what a daredevil he is. He had photos and videos of himself swimming with dolphins, salsa dancing with some African princesses and bungee jumping at some famous gorge. He came back with beautiful souvenirs from Bijagos Islands in Guinea Bissau. A wooden mask and a three headed spear. He called the mask mystery lady and the spear invincible. According to my dad the mask symbolises the mythology of the island and the spear makes whoever owns it invincible. That’s my dad. A believer of the invisible world and the unseen powers. Who can blame him? He is a remnant of the fast-fading generation of the deep mysterious elders who always have that look about them. The look that says hey I’ve been to hell and back.

My dad comes from a long line of warriors. His dad, his dad’s dad and his dad’s dad’s dad were all fierce warriors in their time. So he believes he’s got the firepower in him. The kind that makes him virile enough to chase after young ladies. The other time he came home with a Colombian girl. A real beauty she was. She stayed with us a whole week. Did I mention my mom is late? Yes, its eight years now. It took a lifetime for my father to comeback from the heartache of losing her. They were the best of friends and losing her was the worst thing that ever happened to him. He went off the rails for a while and we feared he would lose his marbles, but thank heavens he bounced back and is living life to the fullest. 

For a man who has faced the worst in life, you must give him credit. He weathered the worst of storms and came out unscathed. ‘Twice I was almost knocked out son but I came back and finished off that cross eyed bull of a man’ he always says. Yes dad was a boxer some decades ago and he won himself a few belts. He loves to talk about the old glorious days. If you have time to kill and are up for some interesting tales, he can entertain you the whole day. His memory is incredibly amazing. He can relate the exact events that happened when he was five. Though sometimes he spins yarns that’s are a bit too long, his fables on the whole are amusing and entertaining. 

What impresses me most about the old man is his tenacity, strength and athleticism. You would think I’m bluffing if I told you that he still participates in the annual city twenty mile marathon. Last year he made it into the top twenty five athletes. Now for a man of his age that’s deep. Beyond impressive. I wasn’t that much surprised especially for a man who lifts weights thrice a week. Something I fail to do, as young as I am. ‘Son, the day you stop lifting weights, you start dying’ he retorts often times with his signature chuckle. The city gym is one of his favourite places. Sometimes when I have the time I drive him there and watch him workout. He is such a sight to watch. He makes you think nothing else in the world is so much fun. Oh, you must meet my dad, he is something.

Born in the rural areas of Malawi, and the first child of a peasant farmer, my dad came from the poorest of them all. Sometimes they had to come up with a duty roaster of who would eat on certain days. If you were on the roaster that day you would eat the only meal of the day, which was supper made up of yams and watery soup. That’s how poor they were. Nothing much was expected of his destiny given everyone in the village was a farm worker. It was cast in stone he was meant to be a farm labourer one day, and the legacy would be passed on even to us.

In my dad’s childhood days witchcraft was the order of the day, and he experienced it a lot. As a kid, he would tell me of a neighbour who had magic-like witchcraft powers. According to my dad, the neighbour would take a big bowl made of reeds from the river. He would sit down legs folded and put the bowl in front of him. He would then start singing some ancient song, and one by one leaves would start appearing in the bowl. In no time the bowl would be full of leaves. I was always made him laugh when I asked him why he didn’t ask the neighbour for some of the magical powers so that instead of leaves he would fill the bowl with money. Imagine everyday filling the bowl with greenbacks. My dad would tell me also that the neighbour had many tricks up his sleeve. He would sometimes take a nap during the day in a bird’s nest. Unbelievable right? But my dad said it’s a true story which actually happened. It was a crazy world honestly. 

It’s quite a story actually how my dad made it in life. Because given his childhood and all, he wasn’t supposed to have made it life. But I guess success in life is not much about where one comes from but how one plays the hand they are dealt at birth. My father is one of those who managed to creatively manouver the cards well. He tells me he didn’t go to school that much whilst growing up because of the obvious narrative in Africa, his father had nothing and had many mouths to feed. My father once thought of joining the army, but his mother would have none of it fearing she would lose him to the war. So he started selling cabbages. Since he wasn’t given to farming he would buy cabbages from farmers and take them to the local market where he would sell them at a good profit. He expanded from there and managed to buy a bike which allowed him to make more trips to the market. That was it. He would later open his grocery shop which boomed into bigger things. By then he was already married to my mother and together their business empire grew. By the time we were born my dad already owned a couple of real estate in our local town. Watching him from a distance I’ve learnt a lot of valuable life lessons. Mainly that do not let other people prescribe for you what you can and cannot do. Also that it’s ok to disagree with the status quo if you know you are right. And lastly, enjoy life to the fullest. Live life to the max. If you can eat sushi, go for bungee jumping, go salsa dancing. All this I’ve seen my dad live and breathe as he stuck to his personal philosophy of making the most of one’s life. His passion for life is exhilarating, his zeal for the exotic intoxicating and his desire to inspire is amazing. You talk to him for just five minutes and you will wonder what have you been doing with your life all this time. Oh you must meet my dad, he is quite something.