Father's Day

When I think of father's day, it brings up some mixed emotions for me. You see I have never owned a calendar that highlighted this day. This meant that according to how I grew up it really didn't count as a holiday. It was just a shade lower than St. Valentine's day.

If you had a background like mine the day that was most important for any individual was their birthday.

So fast forward to 2013 and here we were, in Kigali being bombarded with messages of goodwill and wishing all fathers a lovely Father's Day. To be honest I don't know the rules of engagement on this day. For one I cannot imagine my late father expecting gifts from us. There was simply no time for such.

So I am curious what does our generation of fathers think about this day? How do we carry out ourselves on this day? What do we expect? Actually most of us were brought up by fathers who don't expect much for themselves. I do recall my dad once saying the best present you can give me is to pass your exams. That's how us African dads are wired. So having a day to recognize is ok, but somehow we have always been selfless and I suppose we should go ahead and do it the African way.. Celebrate this day by giving to our families and children who made us fathers in the first place.