On Days Like This, I Need Someone To Walk Beside Me
It’s okay to lean on others instead of going at it alone
A strong bond
Every morning between 7 and 8 am, I call my father who lives 7000 miles away. It has become a habit, and on the days when I cannot make the call, it feels like I am missing something.
We talk about everything. Over the years, the lines of who the parent is and who the child is have blurred. During my younger years, he wielded immense influence over my life as a figure of great power. Though I still see traces of the old him, the doctor who operated under a kerosene lamp in Nigeria’s strife-torn regions, my 86-year-old father has moments where he acts like a needy child and a moody teenager.
I’ll admit, it can be draining at times but I don’t really mind. Because no matter what, I know we have each other's backs.
Although he lives in a different country, he supported me every day during my prolonged and difficult divorce. On days I didn’t have it in me to go on, he’d instill enough strength with words of encouragement to make me through another tough day.
It was the pandemic that brought about a subtle shift in our roles. Suddenly, I found myself in the position of a long-distance caregiver. What was even more…
