SHOULDER THE RESPONSIBILITY IF THE NEED BE...

When the father leaves the stage, not only is an apparent vacuum created but a breadwinner is gone. When the father is alive, he provides for all the members of the household. With his exit, that role must be played by someone.It could be you or another of your siblings. Who takes over the role of providing for the rest of the family seems to be a divine thing. You are not appointed because you are the oldest, youngest or wisest. My contention is that if the mantle of responsibilty falls on your laps, take it with both hands and grace. Give it your best without any grudges. Somehow, I am seeing myself wearing that shoes. I am happy with it and I am urging you to shoulder yours if the need be. I will appreciate your comments

Mistakes many fathers make...

"Next patient", I called. A middle aged handsome man walked into my clinic. When he sat down, he soon told me he was hypertensive. For how long? "For about five years, precisely after my father's death", he answered. At the end of my interaction with him, there was no doubt his hypertensive state has a lot to do with his late father who died without leaving a will on the adminstration of his estate. Being a polygamous father, his sons were literally bent on devouring each other over his assets. There was a mini-war going on among the sons. Is it the sons fault? I doubt it. I think it was a costly mistake or oversight of their father. I wish he was alive to witness the mess he threw the sons into.What's your experience? On behalf of our club members, we plead that this should be a useful lesson for everyone

Somehow, you will get all back...

A day after the main funeral ceremony of my father, a good friend of mine came from the city to sympathise with my family. I was overwhelmed seeing him in my compound. He was entertained. When he was about to leave, he asked me to see him off. I oblidged. Just before we parted ways, he thanked me profusely for the befitting burial I gave my father. He confided in me that as an elderly man, "I am assurring you that the spirit of your late father will make sure that all you spent in burying him will come back to you several folds" Several years later, I am inclined to believe my elderly friend. My finances has been good. I have never had any cause to regret what I spent on his burial. I dont know about you. Your comments are welcome...

A feeling of why me...?

A junior member of our club came to our clinic to see me because of her health. I used the opportunity to welcome her to our elite club - the FATHERLESS CLUB. She had just finished the noble assignment of burying her father. We used some few minutes to talk about the burial ceremony. I apologised profusely for not being at her village during the big ceremony. I was supposed to grace the occasion, having been involved in the planning stage of the ceremony. One thing she mentioned struck me. She said that during the ceremony, she saw older men from her village still bubbling with life, and that made her to keep asking God, "why me, why did my own go so soon?". Yes, I had exactly the same feelings. Why should my dad die even when God has blessed me with enough resources to take care of him?. Why did nt he stay longer to enjoy the fruit of his children's effort? Funny enough, some of the children of those older men still surviving in my village never bothered to take care of their old father. "One of the ironies of life", I told our junior member.