December 29 is my father’s birthday, so allow me to tell you a little about 5five.

5five is a nickname born from a family inside joke-one that, sometimes, even I don’t fully understand.

Daddy was called 5five long before he had 5 kids. It was his pen name and what everyone knew him as.

Sometimes, I wonder if 5five fulfilled the prophecy by deliberately having 5 children. I wish I could ask him. I wish I had asked if the decision to have five children was because of his name. I wish and wish but I know none of my wishes can come true.

One wish I had as a child was to see the latest cartoons and my dad somehow keyed into that. He bought my siblings and me the latest Disney classics.

I loved the songs, the characters and storylines. I remember watching The Princess and the Frog, Pocahontas, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Lion King, Bambi, Hercules, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Peter Pan, and the Little Mermaid.

Overtime, I began to see myself in those characters.

Mulan was a brave girl who saw and wanted more from life than being matchmade. She joined the military and made waves, even though she disguised as a man, to defend China from the Hun invasion.

Simba, on the other hand, was a lion who eventually protected the pride from Scar, his evil uncle, who made him believe he killed Mufasa, his father.

Then there was Hercules, the demigod and son of Zeus. He became mortal as a baby but later trained to earn his place at Mount Olympus after battling evil monsters and his evil, uncle Hades.

Sometimes, I wonder if Daddy deliberately got us those cartoons to shape our perceptions in ways our young mind would comprehend the complexities of the world.  Because the truth is those cartoons shaped my worldview.

They made me believe I could do things. Mulan taught me how I could stretch myself. Through Hercules, I knew I must always go the distance. Aladdin made me realize I had to do what’s right and from Simba, I learned I had to be brave enough to fight the bad guys.

I didn’t know it then, but I know now that my father had a huge role to play in how I have come to see the world.

I also saw the world through the many hats Daddy wore all at once. He was an educator. A natural fixer. Our family’s handy man. The man who sacrificed everything to see us thrive. A leader and a great father.

I saw fatherhood through the eyes of my father.

Daddy was the first man who called me and my siblings every morning to say hello. We never went to his room to say hi. He came to ours instead to say good morning.

He was a man with few words, but his actions were packed with consistency.

He remembered the Trebor candy we liked and would purchase it all the time.

He’d buy us the fried chicken from “chicken republic” because we told him we liked it since the first time he purchased it.

He bought us “fan ice” and “super yogurt” ice creams.

He asked us what we wanted and if we said “anything”, he’d push further and say “anything means nothing” until we answered properly.

He’d buy us one particular cream cracker because we once told him we liked it.

He never joked with his 4 precious girls and the only son he had. Even after we all finished school and started working, he always made sure we were comfortable.

Daddy always said, “bye for now.”

It made sense then because I believed I would always see him again.

But life said no.

I didn’t know the moment I said goodbye was going to be my final one.

“Wait for me Daddy” I said.

“Your baby will be back. Just give me some months. I will see you soon.”

But soon never came.

It ended before I fulfilled my promise to the one man who loved me selflessly.

I am sorry I couldn’t keep my promise, Baba. But as your birthday approaches, the one promise I will always keep is to uphold your values and keep your memory alive.