I can't count how many times I have gushed to a few of my friends about some things my dad used to do and say, and they would be like, 'Your dad was so tush. So what happened to you?'
*rolls eyes* Na dem sabi. Lol.
But then, I totally agree. (not with the fact that I am razz oh. Well, I am kinda razz.) We actually had and still have a nickname for my dad which is 'Oyinbo-Wey-Miss-Road'.
It's funny because he literally grew up in his home town, the village even, and yet, he displayed so many mannerisms that made people think he was one of what we now call the 'I-Just-Got-Back' folk. And the most endearing thing was that it was not a façade in ANY way, which is one of the many reasons people were fond of him.
I say this so many times - when I praise my dad this much, it's not because I am bias. But because he was a genuinely lovely man, a very rare type if I may add. And yes, I do miss him every single day...I've even got tears in my eyes as I type this. But nope, this isn't a sappy write up so let me get on with it.
Alrighty. Here's a little background story on how I decided on this post. A new friend of mine and I were having one of our oddly stimulating yet silly conversations about why I like Nesquik, and food in general of course. Then a light bulb came on in my head. And here we are.
These are a dozen things that remind me of my pop :)
1. Nesquik Chocolate Powder (as you probably already figured)
Dad used to buy this as a random treat. My siblings and I always looked forward to it, and of course we scooped more than we were supposed to. Oh, the thick yumminiess *licks lips*
Ah, the fragrance of Old Spice after shave that lingered everywhere he went. I can still picture how he used to stand in front of the bathroom mirror and dab it on his chin and neck.
I remember how often my dad used to come back from his trips to Europe with boxes of Lindt mini chocolates. Luckily for me, a few months ago, a colleague-turned-friend of mine was travelling to Switzerland on an official trip, and the only thing I asked for was a box of chocolates...Lindt to be precise.
4. Fubu. Fila. New Balance.
Dad was a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers typa guy, with the occasional baseball cap. So you can imagine how many sneakers he had lined up in my parents' bedroom. But the thing is, they were more often than not either Fubu, Fila (remember them?) or New Balance brands. Perhaps there were others but I honestly can't recall seeing them. I would have loved to ask him why, just out of curiosity.
5. Lion Chocolate Bar
My dad was a pro at indulging our sweet tooth, and buying us Lion chocolate bars was one of his many ways of doing that. Yep. Mum gave up trying to stop him eventually.
He loved capturing every moment in pictures. I can't count how many polaroid cameras dad had talk less of how many pictures of us he took with them. And I am mighty glad he did, because I get to relive those memories over and over again.
7. Postcards
Because of the nature of his job, which was with the United Nations, he travelled a whole lot. And when he did he always, and I mean ALWAYS sent each of us postcards from wherever he was at the time. Not to forget the fact that his handwriting was so pretty.
NB: I so need to rummage through a truck load of my possessions to find some of the postcards he sent me over a decade ago. It's only ideal that I post a picture of one or two of them on here, no?
8. Casio watches
I was a sucker for male watches in secondary school. Reason why I often borrowed a few of my male friends' just cause I liked how the watches hung over my wrist due to the obvious fact that they were too big for me.
So when my dad passed, I claimed one of his old Casio watches as mine and wore it for the longest time, even though the battery was dead and gone.
9. Pringles
My siblings and I had favorite colors when we were little and dad used to buy pretty much everything for us in those colors, including Pringles!
The first time we ever tasted them, we each got one large sized pack.
My sister loved the color red so he bought her the original flavor. My eldest brother was a fan of blue and that was the salt and vinegar flavor. My immediate elder brother loved green, which was the onion flavor, while I loved yellow so I got the cheese flavor.
I remember the slogan written on the seal, 'Once you pop, you can't stop!' That was literally what happened to all of us, even though we tried our best not to finish it all in one day. Epic fail.
10. Olympics and World Cup
We all used to sit in front of the TV and watch the games while my dad gave us details about the technicalities of each sport, who was the current champion and tales of when he used to play tennis back in the day.
There he is, the first dude seated on the right :)
Our favorite moment was whenever he got up to sing along to the American anthem (Lol. He studied in Michigan State University for his Masters, just incase you are wondering) and how energetic he got whenever Nigeria was competing. My mum on the other hand used to cry anytime a goal keeper of the losing team didn't catch the ball because she always felt sorry for him.
My most memorable World Cup with him was France 1998, the season when I had a massive crush on Batistuta. Lmao. Good ol' times!
Yep. Dad was a coin and stamp collector, or in other words, a numismatist and philatelist. He travelled a lot so you can guess how this hobby came about. The big sis has since carried the torch and has all his collections in her 'custody', which surprisingly led to her being featured in the November Forbes Africa Collectors' Edition. I know! Pretty cool, huh?
My dad's M.O. was to sneak up on us anytime he came back from one of his trips. Of course mum was in on this ALL the time and we NEVER got tired of it...or even suspected it.
But there was this one time we got back from school and found cans of Heineken in the fridge, and that was a giveaway that dad was going to be home anytime soon.
Of course my uncle and aunt that lived with us then tried to derail our discovery but ko le werk!
Funny enough, we were still uber excited and squealed as usual when we saw him at the front door with his arms opened wide to give each of us a bear hug. And not to forget, the truckload of goodies waiting for us in all his luggages *big grin*
Until next time mi amigos, feliz navidad y prospero ano nuevo! (Google is your friend)
Sidetrack: Chei God, it would be nice if you gave me a Spanish or Italian 'boyfriend-cum-husband' as my Christmas present oh! Just saying sha...
