There is that sensation that grips your heart when you are coming back home.
All you think about is home and nothing else. Your mind travels back in time to see how you bade them families and homies goodbye.
You see the laughter on their faces and feel the warmth of their hugs. I was coming back after two years of working abroad.
I wanted to be in Tina’s arms, feel the love and adore her beauty. Hold her from behind her waist as she did the dishes or banter with her to the point that she would splash water on my face, then offer me another t-shirt to change.
Sit on the sofa, and discuss our savings plan and how she really wanted us to own our home. She always spoke of buying a parcel of land in Ruiru.
Or hang out with my boys watching preseason football and nyama choma at the base. Swipe my Coop bank ATM and tip the waiter via mobile money.
Or join the campaign trails to emphasize voting for change. I wanted to be with my family during the election season. I wanted to vote back home to make a change.
But above all, I wanted to see my young daughter who I left when she was around two years old. And there she was, the first voice I heard when I reached out to my phone, past the checkpoint.
“Daddy, we have seen your plane land, we have seen your plane land,” my four-year-old daughter Lisha screamed in a video her mother sent to me as I landed at JKIA.
Lisha made me happy. Her mother struggled with her pregnancy. It was her first. It drained her. We nearly lost her at nine months, just when she was due and I knew how much joy she brought into our lives.
She was the reason why I signed the two-year contract to work abroad, as the funds would be enough to cater for her first years in school.
“Welcome home,” the officer at the checkpoint says, smiling. Felt good to breathe the fresh air of Nairobi. I hear nowadays they call it Kanairo.
Sometime ago Tina texted me that Nakulombotov and I wondered what that was.
“Babe, it's the new sheng for saying ‘I love you’.” She’d laugh in my face. For real, was I that outdated? Haa.
“If I dump you, I’d say nmekupiga character development,” she adds. I really missed a lot.
So when I saw Tina and Lisha waving their hands at the waiting lounge, tears filled my ears.
They looked lovely.
I Hugged Lisha first and kissed her on the cheek for she ran into my arms.
Then I stopped for a minute to look at Tina and how adorable she is. It's that she cares so much about others that makes her so beautiful to me. Raising Lisha for two years on me, then waiting for me.
And by the way, she had stayed in shape. That gym was doing some magic.
In her arms, she whispers,” I missed you.”
Definitely, I missed her too. But before the cab arrives, she adds, “I have a surprise for you.”
Okay, she now had my attention.
“Wait, before I tell you what’s in this envelope, I introduced some of my friends to your remittance platform,” she started, knowing that she had my full attention.
“Okay, I am listening babe.”
“I told them that Coop bank has a bouquet of money transfer solutions for them to choose from globally and locally, like how you have been sending cash to us. From CoopRemit, Remitly, PesaLink, MoneyGram, Western Union, WorldRemit, Poa Pay, Instant cash, TransFast, Wave, and Swift Transfers.
“Alright Tina, so is the surprise in connection to my remittance. My Coop bank savings?” I asked.
“Yes, the first time you sent money via Remitly to Coop bank, I thought, why don’t I think of a way to invest it.
“So, on top of the savings we had before you travelled and the funds you sent from abroad, I got you this,” she handed over the envelope.
The cab driver had then arrived and was putting our bags in the boot.
I opened the envelope and looked at her with surprise written all over my face. “What!”
She looked at me waiting for a surprise. “What do you think? Are you mad?”
“No, I ain't, this is brilliant. How did you pull this through? A parcel of land?” I asked.
“Yes, we got ourselves our new place. I wanted it to be a surprise for you…” before she finished speaking, she was in my arms, a big hug.
As much as I was a little bit angry that she didn’t ask me about it if having her own home would make her happy, then I would do it for her.
“I know I have ruined your plans,” she stated as we boarded the cab heading home.
“No. I always knew you would be up to something. Especially when you spoke about wanting a home before I flew.
“I only sent half of the money. The contract expires tomorrow and I had organised for the rest to be sent via Remitly to our Coop bank account.
She looked at me and laughed.