Children Fulfill Retired Father’s Lifelong Dream After 40 Years

A stock image of a father and on embracing each other
A stock image of a father and son embracing each other
NBC

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

So I believe my grannys scored it right. They raised someone better who raised us much better. 

“Always strive to have a better life than your parents,” my dad, Dr. Jerry always told us. 

“When I was young, I dreamt of buying shoes, building my parents a house and finishing school. I’d see my mother toil in the garden to get Ksh1 to buy me a book. She would sometimes make us tea without sugar and we ate a lot of arrowroots and cassava.

“When I flew to study abroad, my parents were so proud of me. I used to send them letters after every 4 months. I strived to be better, took you to good schools, built my own house and you now don’t have to worry a lot about us,” my dad would advise me one day as we ate lunch at a cafeteria in town. 

He always emphasised paying school fees. It’s funny when I remember some days I would track my name on students being sent home for fees only to miss it. 

So when his retirement day came, after 30 years of touching patients' hearts, mentoring his juniors and raising us well, he called it quits. 

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

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File image of residential houses
File

Don’t worry. I’ll let you know. First I got to tell you the genesis. My dad wanted us to go to better schools and be educated well. While studying abroad, he had seen the impact of education and how crucial it is to empower children. 

So, he enjoyed every moment of his life and celebrated the little wins, from opening a Co-op bank account to save our fees to joining Saccos and insurance firms. 

I am fortunate that I had a close relationship with him. Okay, not that close at first because I remember that our mother handed us over when we were 18. 

“You have raised the kids well, now it's time for me to take over,” he told my mum. In fact, he appreciated 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 we always brush off when we are young but find meaning in them when we are old.

“Never touch a man’s money and his wife,” he would warn us. 

I am not implying that he was never there for us when we were young. He was. 

We are fortunate enough to remember how he would scoop us up with ease, let us fly like Superman, and then catch us mid-air. Or that day he saw my brother cry after falling down with his bike on the first day he was teaching him how to ride. 

“Men don’t cry when they fail. You rise up and do it again,” he laughed at him and my brother then strived 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 can't I tie a tie like Kantai can tie a tie

Haa. Or when he would come home (up-country) after three months from Nairobi with a box of biscuits and juice. Or when I was in campus and I whispered to him 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 would advise. Yes, he scorned me, but I knew inside he was looking forward to being a grandpa.

But it was all a false scare. Gratefulness abounds, and that was what I conveyed in our card when we surprised him on his retirement. 

My old man broke down at his clinic when he read the card attached to his cake, his colleagues standing by his side. 

It's only when we grew up, and stepped back from you, left you to pursue our own careers and build our own homes – it's only then that we measured your greatness and fully appreciated it.

Our other siblings who were abroad had joined us online on a video call as they could not make it. My own kids, who were to report to school after the August short holidays had accompanied me. 

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Lipa bills, check account balances, and get instant loans directly from your account in the NEW upgraded MCo-opCash app
Co-op Bank

I handed over the car keys to his new black hybrid Volvo V70 estate. He had always dreamt of having a station wagon since he was 20 years old. He wanted a car that would suit the family's needs, one that he would transport farm products with. 

“Station wagons have big boots,” he would always laugh. But he never bought a car all his life, why?

“Cars depreciate in value. If I bought one when I was young, I wouldn't have taken you to good schools, bought land or saved for my pension. I would have stayed in the garages repairing and maintaining cars. 

“I prioritized,” he would answer. But he went to a driving school when I was in high school and retrained a few years before his retirement. 

He was always prepping for the big day he would fulfil his dream, but we beat him to it. 

“How did you buy this yet the kids are going back to school. You paid their fee balances?” He wondered, stunned by the gift. 

“Has he paid your school fees,” he asked my daughter Jenny, who was in Form 2. She nodded. 

“You don’t have to worry pa. Co-op Bank got it all covered. Parents can pay fees directly into the school's Coop bank account via pay bill numbers 400200 or 400222 free of charge,” I interjected. 

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

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

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

He looked at me and smiled, assured that I had taken after him in prioritising school fees. 

“Children have to learn. It’s crucial for them to finish their education. Just reach out to me anytime you need help,” he advised.

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Co-op Bank

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

He was overwhelmed.

“Thank you so much, my children. May you be blessed. I am proud to see this day, my retirement. Many of the people we started with passed away a long time ago.

“Some are wallowing in alcoholism, some have broken marriages, but I lived long to honour the oath I took as a doctor and to see you guys grow up,” he added. 

He took care of us when we were young. Our journey to take care of him when old and fragile had just started. 

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

But I can come back home, see him and my mama farm, read them books when they get older and make them smile when they sit with their grandchildren.

Hold their hands in their sunset years.