Iggi's Home-Coming 2008

Iggi arrived from Southampton on 23 Nov 2008. It had been 2 yrs since I last saw him in the UK on my trade mission there. He had grown so much since. I took 3 weeks of leave to be with him.

Today, I brought him to visit my mom and dad. Dad was so happy to see him. He brought him down to “show” him off to everyone in the neighbourhood.. The people in the coffeeshop, the provision shop, the mama shop, etc.. Dad kept telling everyone that this is his favourite grandson and I guess THAT really made Iggi felt special. I saw that smile on Iggi’s face as he walked dad around the neighbourhood.

Dad’s blind in one eye (from diabetes) and his sight for his other is failing too. His frail legs were wobbly but Iggi’s young hands held onto him steadily. And as I watched them walked, I’m glad I took time off work to spend time with both dad and Iggi.

When I was cutting dad’s nails (my weekly routine), I was beginning to realize how much dad had aged. His nerves are all dead and he lost most of his sense of feeling. He could not manage anymore without his walking stick.

Iggi sat there looking at me (in my reading glasses) cutting Dad’s nails said, “Dad, I wished I’d be around to cut your nails when you become as old like grandpa… but I hope I won’t need reading glasses like you though”… he giggled…

Iggi had always been a sensible kid. I know deep within him, he misses all of us. The feeling of living in the UK and being so distant from us must had really pinched him. He was merely trying to hide it with his sense of humour. In this, he’s takes on so much of Dad and me.. We’re warriors of life.. we took life by its horns and wrestles it with our smiles and laughters.

Dad had been a real example to me. He showed me that despite his struggles in life, there’s always a reason to smile. If not for his pillar of strength and optimism, I would not have learnt how to survive the adversities that I had been subjected to. And it is with this same blessings that Iggi inherits this trait in our family roots.

Now, by becoming the proud son of a great father, I’ve become a proud father myself to see a great lad in the making. Dad & Iggi may not be perfect beings but they’d always be GOOD ENOUGH… and that, my friends, is more than what any man can ask for..