Do you think that it's easy to be a single parent?
Trust me. It's not easy to be in that position especially when you are still training your children in their younger age.
Kids are blessing from God and l believe that all parents will do everything possible in order to give their child the best life. This is why some people don't mind leaving their house very early in the morning and coming back very late at night. It's all because of our desire to acquire enough wealth that will be used to sustain our family.
I work round the clock just like many African parents and l try as much as possible to provide all the items that are needed by my household. That have been my modus operandi since the moment that l formed this conjugal tie with Rebecca.
I stood with Becky at the altar on our wedding day and dished out these promises to her;
My dear, I will be the best husband that exists on earth and l will also be the best father that lives in this planet. I promise to love you and our unborn children to the moon and back to Nigeria. I will try my best to provide all our needs and the needs of all our unborn children.
Those are the promises that l made to Becky and to myself since 2001 but l can't speak enough of how unpromising l have been towards fulfiling these promises.
For starters, please take few seconds to say "RIP" to the soul of Becky whom journeyed to the underworld a decade after our wedding.
We went to bed on a friday night in the second week of January, 2011 but l woke up alone the next day while she laid stone cold on the bed. I wept bitterly while our 8 years old baby girl was watching the whole scene without uttering a word. Becky died a natural and painless death and left me as a widower in my early 30s. The whole burden of parenthood landed on me and l had to play the role of a Dad and that of a Mum to my little Sandra.
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels
Was that where the crack started?
I know that my promise of being the best husband in the world is no longer attainable but l can still keep one of the promise that l made on the altar. l believed that l can be the best Dad in the world.
I started working harder than l have ever worked since my lifetime. I worked in a Nigerian Bank from 7am to 6pm every weekdays and l worked in an insurance company on weekends. God was blessing my hard-work and l started unfolding my plan which was all targeted at being a perfect Dad to Sandra.
- l successfully placed my baby girl in the most expensive school in the capital of my city.
- I employed a driver to drive her to and from school.
- I employed a chef to cook all her meals for her.
- I employed maids to do everything in the house
- I also bought a puppy for her to keep her company.
I was busy being the best Dad in the world and l was very sure that Sandra was enjoying my fatherliness even when the pandemic took the world by storm in 2019. Yes, l didn't allow the pandemic to stop me from giving her a perfect life but it turned out that what she truly needed from me have been missing.
I would have been living with the the delusion that l'm keeping my promise of being the best Dad in the world. Anyone in my shoe would have thought the same but what l witnessed on 2nd January, 2021 made me to realize how wrong l have been.
I was already set to step out as usual for a business trip and leave Sandra at the comfort of her Dog, puppies and many other things that can make her comfortable but when l opened her door to bid her farewell, a different version of my baby was staring at my face. My Sandra was in a pool of her own tears and it turned out that l was the reason for that.
The things that she said to me that Saturday morning is still melting me softly.
Daddy. Don't we have enough already?
I know how hardworking you have been and l appreciate all that you have been doing in order to make life easy for us but l have been all alone in this world. We have been living in this big mansion for as long as l can remember yet, it feels as if we are world apart. We haven't talked like father and daughter neither do you have the time to seat down and dine with me.
I don't need an ATM machine. I need you to be my Daddy. I want to Know more about you and l also have alot to tell you about me.
Her words sinked deep into my heart and melted me softly. I haven't been able to do much since then because l have been trying to cut off somethings that have been eating up my time so that l will have more time for my baby. I have been playing the role of a father since 2003 but l'm now going to unlearn what l know about fatherhood and relearn a new style.
THE RENEWAL;
I called Sandra an hour ago and promised her that l will be a better Dad. It's now a new promise of fulfilling my old promises. I hope to play this role better than l have been doing.
Thanks For Not Missing Any Full-stop or Comma.
Declaration
I certify that my entry to the The Ink Well Writing Prize is my own original work and has been published exclusively to The Ink Well and my Hive profile. I understand that my entry may be excluded from the Writing Prize if I have not met the Rules of Entry and the Community Rules. The Ink Well and the Writing Prize is supported by the @ocd Communities Incubation Programme and the @curie curation initiative.