I Salute My Father

by Tamara Lukonde
(Monze)

It takes a real man to be a father. Some are fathers by choice and others by chance. I salute my father because he is one of the real men.

A man that will put on socks with holes in them, not that he cannot afford a pair of new ones but so that neither me nor my brothers will wear them. He is a man that has taught me to be disciplined in a manner that will never cease to amaze me.

When it comes to school there is no compromise because always the expectation is execellence. Each day he goes to work and gives it his very best. I trully admire his passion for hardwork.

When one looks at the old van he drives, they wonder why. I also used to wonder why he can't get rid of it, now I understand why. He is exercising one of the golden tools of success which is sacrifice.

As people who want to succeed in life we must learn how to sacrifice some of the things. In Bemba we say "talala ukalya mailo,'stop crying you will eat tomorrow. For God so loved the world that he gave(sacrificed) his only begotten son Jesus Christ.

My father has sacrificed the luxuries so that I can have a good education. Have you stopped eating from the cookie jar in order to lose that excess fat?

What are you giving up in order to achieve your dreams and succeed?

I love you Daddy.