I know it's a little bit late to talk about Father's Day but I'll do it anyway. Haha.
I spent the last weekend in my hometown to celebrate Father's Day and also to bring my mum for a movie that I have already promised her. It was a fun weekend just me, my mum and my dad. We watched movie and had sahur after that. It was 4am by the time we reached home. Told my dad 'Rasa macam zaman muda pulak'.
We talked and laughed and cry (I think I was the only one cried during the movie -__-').
So, my dad travels throughout his life. It was just me, Dianah and my mum for many years. Although he's always away from the family, we never felt separated cause he always make phone calls. There was no Skype at that time, so we used call card from TM. So it will be a once a week call or if there's any urgency to it.
Daddy did not spend his Hari Raya and Chinese New Year for the longest time. So every time during Aidilfitri, my mum will make sure that we call and wish him first thing in the morning no matter where we celebrate. Everytime he picks up the call, I remember my mum and I shed some tears cause knowing the fact that we could not celebrate that special occasion with him.
Although daddy is always away but he never forget his responsibility as a father. He would ask us about school, our friends, neighbors, our school grade and the fact that we siblings are closer to him compared to our mum, we tell him almost everything like how you tell stories to your best friend. Although I know he's away a thousand miles from the family, I never really understood how lonely he was. We only meet like twice a year. Every time spent with him only lasted about 2 weeks each unless we flew over to his place during the year end school holiday.
This year, it's the 5th or 6th year since he retired and we get to celebrate together for the past 5 years. I make sure that I spent whatever time I lost with him when he was away. My dad is very strict when it comes to education and he makes sure my mum practice his way too while he was gone. He expect a good grade if you want something from him. He is always involved with our lives even when he's not around and keeping up to date on what's happening in the family is his priority.
Over the years, I start to spend more time with him. No matter how busy I am, I make sure that I see him even if it's just a 1 day trip back. Little did people know that being separated for years from the people you love is not easy. You may see the wealth, money and luxury that the person portray but beyond that, it's just plain loneliness living in a foreign land. I know how it felt. Your dad is not there on your important days.. It sucks, I know
People will never understand when I tell them how important it is to spend time with their father. We often being overshadowed by our mother's role as the person who runs the house chores, making sure that everything in the house in in order and in place but many don't realized that a father plays an important role too. For instant, my dad teaches us our homeworks, gives us pep talk and motivations, send us to school and tuition and whatever chores that my mum was unable to execute.Parents play different role in the family but they're equally important.
My dad has always been an idol or someone me and my sis look up to. His character, charisma, his aura, his words. He's the most unselfish person I've known. When he was working, whatever money he makes, 80% of his pay goes to family and he only spend like 20% of it. He makes sure that the family gets the best of everything. Now that I see him aging away, I don't want anything else but to spend more time with him and my mum. Money can never buy time that has past so whatever time left is spend with the family.
Happy Father's Day, daddy.
