Our Father - A Synopsis. 

Our father lived a fulfilled life, perhaps, not so much towards the end, and did so on his own terms. He loved hard and was immensely adored by many. He was unorthodox, scholarly, adventurous, exceptionally worldly, exuberant, humorous, compassionate, versatile, guileless, an unwavering idealist, frighteningly sacrificial, an avid humanitarian; readily giving of himself and his resources and yet, at times, stubborn as a mule. Overall, he was an innately kind-hearted soul engulfed in enigma; almost as though he lived on the border of this world and another.  Each day that passes, we mourn the loss and celebrate the uniqueness of his being. Indeed, our hearts heave! 

After over a decade's long fight with cancer, his wish was to pass on in his sleep, in his beloved hometown of Adansi-Asokwa, where he relocated to, about 14 months prior to his demise and where he lived in a modest brick house that he built. He was the traditional ruler of the town for over a decade, until he abdicated to his cousin, when his failing health got in the way. Whilst he was not in physical pain, he had a hard time dealing with his diagnosis. It gnawed at his self-esteem and resilience, and no amount of love and reassurance was enough to convince him that it was ok. 

Having raised 5 daughters (and intermittently, a step-son), he did not mind buying our feminine hygiene supplies. He would take us to the seamstress to get our measurements taken, to the hair-dresser and to the dentist for our periodic cleaning, among numerous road-trips he took with us. 

Whilst he pushed us to excel, he LOVED his children like his skin! We felt it, because his love for us was INTENSE and it showed. Being a science student at A-levels, whilst a lover of the arts and yet ending up in business school, he was not only in depth, but well-rounded and thus, could and would teach us a wide array of subjects, ranging from Add Mathematics to Chemistry, to Literature, to Classics (Latin, of which he wrote letters to some of us, when in boarding school) to History to Economics to Finance. Father par excellence! 

Not only did he ensure that we were firmly grounded, but he loved exposing us to the finer things in life; different genres of music (percussionists, Afro jazz, Motown Classics etc.) artists, writers, independent film, theatre, culture. We speak of a man who was deeply passionate about the life of the mind and thus whilst he admired, encouraged and revered success, his endless conversations about the ills of greed, injustice and inequality in the world, gradually awakened our social consciousness.

Like him, most of his children are strong-headed and thus, repeatedly disagreed with his choice to live his final days in his remote hometown. Albeit sometimes isolated, that is how he chose things to be. We are not sure if he wanted to mask his sorrow of the possibility of leaving us, but he assured us that, he enjoyed the peace and quiet of his town, far away from the hustle and bustle of Accra. He took walks in the morning and interacted with the town's residents. He would often sit and chat up the kids and random folks around the town. He loved the greenery and the livestock that randomly grazed around. A few months prior to his passing, he said to one of us: "You folks overrate Accra. It's beautiful out here. In my 70's, I have rediscovered the joy of the Asante Spirit!"

On the morning of May 25th 2020, five days short of his 72nd birthday, we received the news; his body had given in.  Although much sooner than expected, he had crossed over to the other side, in his beloved and modest Asante town. 

He did it his way. Fab job, Dad. Fab job! Applause! Whilst we are broken, we are so proud of you, Dad. Once again, you put up a brave good show!