Honoring the life and lessons of a truly remarkable man

Losing loved ones is not something anyone can pray for or something easy to let go of and move on. But then, what will be will be, which means no matter what happens, we must live on, and that's only possible when we put the pain of losing a special person behind us.

We all came to this world and will definitely leave someday because nothing lasts forever, including humans. We all have an expiring date, and once the time is up, nothing can stop the person from leaving or bringing them back to life.

Speaking of someone who means so much to me that I have lost, that would be no one else than my dad.

He was such a caring father to his children and a lovely husband to my mom as well, but I guess his time was up, and that was why he left without saying goodbye to his beautiful family.

My father was a kind person, someone who didn't like seeing another person in need, and throughout the whole time he spent on earth, he always made sure to put a smile on people's faces and also made sure his family never lacked anything.

We know how generous he was, but we never knew how much he cared about people until he was dead. That morning, my mom was mourning her husband's death while some people came crying at our door.

They started lamenting what he had promised them. I was still little, but I could understand that they were crying about my dad's promises, but what I didn't really understand was what death was.

At first, I thought he traveled like he always did and was going to come back soon until I became a teenager, and then I started missing his absence and how important he was to me and the rest of the family, but still, I haven't understood something until I became an adult.

When I was processing my university and I couldn't raise the acceptance fee, I remembered him, and I regret not having him around because he was the kind of person who cherishes studies a lot. When we were little, he always made sure we all did our assignments when my mom had gone to the market.

He always told us that education is the only key, which I never for once forget, even though I didn't understand back then until I became an adult and everything seemed hard to get for me.

How much do I love him?

I don't think there is a reason why a child should love his or her dad because the love is natural and the fact that he was my lookalike in the family makes us close so much. I love him to the extent that I always wait for him to come back home before I can eat my dinner.

I didn't remember that until my mom told me that when we went home for one of my sister's weddings, I realized that I hadn't just missed him. He has always been my best friend since I was little.

Nothing lasts forever, is what I always heard, and that was what made me move on because I didn't want to dwell in the past, even though I still think about him often, but not in a sad way anymore because I now understand that he is in a better place.