Children realize the dream of a retired father after 40 years

Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a father. There’s a quote that says when you raise a boy, you’re not just raising a son but someone’s husband and father.

So I think my grandmothers scored well. They raised someone better who raised us much better.

“Always strive for a better life than your parents,” my father, Dr. Jerry, always told us.

“When I was young, I dreamed of buying shoes, building a house for my parents and finishing school. I saw my mother toiling in the garden so that Ksh1 would buy me a book. unsweetened tea and we ate a lot of arrowroot and cassava.

“When I flew to study abroad, my parents were so proud of me. I used to send them letters every 4 months. I tried hard to be better, I took you to good schools, I built my own house and you don’t have to worry too much about us anymore,” my father advised me one day while we were having lunch in a cafeteria in town.

It has always emphasized the payment of tuition fees. It’s funny when I remember some days I would follow my name on students being sent home for tuition, but miss it.

So on the day of his retirement, after 30 years of touching the hearts of patients, mentoring his juniors and raising us well, he quit.

He has his own land, his own house, some investments and but there was always one thing he dreamed and wished he had.

Do not worry. I’ll keep you up-to-date. I must first tell you the genesis. My father wanted us to go to better schools and be well educated. While studying abroad, he saw the impact of education and how crucial it is to empower children.

So he enjoyed every moment of his life and celebrated the small victories, from opening a cooperative bank account to save our fees to joining Saccos and insurance companies.

I am lucky to have a close relationship with him. Okay, not so close at first because I remember our mom handing us over when we were 18.

“You raised the children well, now it’s time for me to take over,” he told my mother. In fact, he liked her.

He then wanted to teach us the ropes of life. From how to date, save, respect women, plan for a future, and other virtues that we always discard when we’re young but find meaning in them when we’re old.

“Never touch the money of a man and his wife”, he warned us.

I don’t mean he was never there for us when we were young. It was.

We are lucky enough to remember how easily he would pick us up, let us fly like Superman, and then catch us in the air. Or that day he saw my brother crying after falling with his bike the first day he taught him to ride a bike.

“Men don’t cry when they fail. You get up and you start again”, he laughed at him and my brother then tried to prove him right.

Or that day he taught me how to tie a tie, using the Kantai tongue twister.

kantai can tie a tie if kantai can tie a tie why i can’t tie a tie like kantai can tie a tie.

Ah. Or when he returned home (in the country) after three months in Nairobi with a box of biscuits and juice. Or when I was on campus and whispered to her that I was afraid I had impregnated a girl.

“It happens. That’s why I always tell you to take care of yourself. You accept responsibility and we take care of the child, ”he advises. Yes, he despised me, but I knew inside that he was looking forward to being a grandfather.

But it was all just a fake scare. Gratitude abounds, and that’s what I conveyed in our card when we surprised him at his retirement.

My old man cracked up at his clinic reading the card attached to his cake, his colleagues standing by his side.

It was only when we grew up and moved away from you, that we left you to pursue our own careers and build our own homes – only then did we measure your greatness and fully appreciate it. .

Our other siblings who were overseas had joined us online on a video call because they couldn’t come. My own children, who had to come to school after the short August holidays, had accompanied me.

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I handed over the car keys to his new black Volvo V70 hybrid station wagon. He had always dreamed of having a break since the age of 20. He wanted a car that would meet the needs of the family, a car with which he would transport the products of the farm.

“Station wagons have big boots,” he always laughed. But he never bought a car in his whole life, why?

“Cars lose value. If I had bought one when I was young, I wouldn’t have taken you to good schools, bought land or saved up for my pension. I would have stayed in the garages to repair and maintain the cars.

“I prioritized,” he replied. But he went to a driving school when I was in high school and retrained a few years before he retired.

He was still preparing for the big day when he would realize his dream, but we beat him to it.

“How did you buy this as the kids go back to school. Did you pay their fee balances?” he wondered, stunned by the gift.

“Did he pay your tuition,” he asked my daughter Jenny, who was in class 2. She nodded.

“You don’t have to worry dad. Co-op Bank has it all covered. Parents can pay fees directly to the school’s Coop bank account via invoice numbers 400200 or 400222 free of charge,” I said.

“And me, a regular, all I needed was to transfer money from my Co-op Bank account to the school account via MCo-op Cash.

“It’s so easy. We dial *667# or use the MCo-opCash app and login with MCo-opCash PIN, select bank transfer, select other Co-op accounts, enter the school cooperative accountand select the account to transfer from.

“Then enter the amount you wish to pay, enter the reason for payment: student name or admission number, confirm the transaction and you will receive a confirmation SMS,” I replied.

He looked at me and smiled, assured that I had taken over, prioritizing tuition.

“Children have to learn. It is crucial for them to complete their studies. Contact me whenever you need help,” he advised.

“With Co-op Bank, when you need a loan, you can apply for a MCo-opCash salary advance up to Ksh 500,000 with a repayment period of up to 3 months. Lipa bills, check account balances and get instant loans right from your account.

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“Now can you test drive the new car we bought for you?” I asked.

He was overwhelmed.

“Thank you very much, my children. May you be blessed. I am proud to see this day, my retirement. A lot of people we started with died a long time ago.

“Some wallow in alcoholism, some have broken up marriages, but I’ve lived long to honor the oath I took as a doctor and to see you grow,” he added.

He took care of us when we were young. Our journey to care for him as he was old and frail had just begun.

I can’t throw him up like he did me, teach him to ride a bike or tie a tie like Kantai.

But I can go home, see him and my mother, cultivate, read books to them when they grow up, and make them smile when they sit with their grandchildren.

Hold their hand in their sunset years.