The Bonding Shade.

The demise of my father changed everything, oh the beautiful house once cared for by my dad has now been left unkempt.

You see, Dad was a lover of nature, especially plants, while he was alive he would buy various kinds of flowers to plant just to beautify the house, that is why you can see flower pots around this beautiful house.

Picture source:@wakeupkitty

He even went as far as decorating a fine hut with a special kind of tree, look intently, and you will see how the tree made a beautiful intertwine more like they were in harmony, under this tree which served as a shade for us, as you can see the table and chairs.

I remember how Dad and Mom and all of us (the kids) will sit there every evening, chit-chatting and bonding together as a family, and on weekends, Dad will bring out his hoes and rake to ensure the weeds are out and the garden is neat and attractive.

Sometimes I curiously ask, "How about snakes hiding under the tree too?", He would reply "That is why I make sure to care for this space and fumigate too, you have me, daughter, so you have nothing to worry about ", those words were reassuring as I fondly sat there with confidence every evening.

Soon enough, my older siblings got married and it was left with just me, Dad, and Mom then, my visa was approved after some years of processing.

I relocated to the States and I left Dad and Mom in our beautiful home, I never knew it would be the last time to see how organized and neat that compound will ever be.

Three years later, I got a call, telling me about the demise of my dad, I was shattered and broken and so I made plans for my mom to join me in the States.

After a few years, we all planned to have a reunion at our Father's house now that we are all married and had children but as soon as I stepped my foot into the compound, I had shivers down my spine, how our once beautiful home was now unkempt, it reminded me so much of the little things my dad did so effortlessly to make us happy and bond us as a family.

The compound was so filled with weeds, the flowers in the flower pot had overgrown and looked so disorganized and I could tell we needed to do a lot of repairs in the house too.

Today, we celebrate a man who made us united, we talked so fondly of him, and my kids, nieces, and nephews are all ready to work, as we all had hoes and rakes to ensure our father's beautiful effort never dies, we will root out the weeds and trim the flowers, and then have a drink and eat right under the shade he created for us to bond and tell our children the story behind the garden surrounding our home and shade too. He must be proud of us to see we cherish the memories we had while he was still alive.

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_{This is purely fictitious but I hope you enjoyed reading.}

Thank you for stopping by, till we meet again, this is Amie Geoffrey.