Father's Day😊

Father's Day is here, and I'm all about the celebrations! These special days always give me an extra reason to feel joyful and since I started WilaWane Store, I pay closer attention to these days. So this past week, I've been reflecting on Father's Day and the incredible dads around me. Of course, I've thought about the awesome father in my home, my baby daddy lol. The amazing man who is such a fantastic dad to our children. I thought about my brothers as dads and some of my friends and what a great job they’re doing. But I've also spent a lot of time reminiscing about my own dad. I decided to focus my thoughts on all the wonderful memories with my dad, moments that have truly shaped me and still bring me joy. I have many fond memories of my dad growing up, from countless day trips to 'Le Soleil Farm' (does anyone remember it? I think it was in Zambezi rd.), to weekends at his office playing Minesweeper while he worked, and now, as an adult, the weekly phone calls to check on me, but really not me, because the calls begin with “how’s Wila and Zella (Wane)?”. And as modern grandpa, he’s a big ‘Facebooker’ and a WilaWane Store page top fan and constantly shares our posts with very informative captions lol. A theme however that is recurring in my memories is our shared love of stories and books. My dad started his career as a teacher, specializing in Mathematics and Literature. And dad loved literature, he loved to read, so much so, him and my mum met exchanging novels (Pause to add to reason 101 of why to love books- they can help you find your soulmate lol). I digress, so I don't know if it was done intentionally but my dad raised a reader. My dad read to me A LOT as a child, countless hours of story after story. I have a vivid memory of going into my parent’s room early one Saturday morning and there was a box of "new" books on the floor, it felt like Christmas! Dad used to borrow books from the Zambia Library Services, and once we'd read through a box, he would bring home another box filled with new stories. I have memories of Ladybird storybooks from Bookworld and my mum signing "please return to Kayanda Besa" on all my personal storybooks, we lived pama flats so it was necessary LOL. I chatted with my mum yesterday, trying to see what she remembered about me and dad and reading and she talked about how much me and dad read together and when we'd gone through all the books he'd have to make up new stories to tell me, that is when the term "guessing stories" was coined – which I think I should trademark. Dad has always been a great storyteller, still is actually. Dad also recalled when he shared with me one of the first novels he had read as a boy, a James Hadley Chase book. According to him, he was so excited to share that experience with me and even more excited when I stayed up at night to finish the book and was super excited to discuss the story with him in the morning. I didn't know that, but it turns out he was super proud that at around 11 years old, I could read such a book and excitedly discuss it. Before high school, I was already sneaking into dad's collections of Daniel Steel, Sidney Sheldon, and Jackie Collins, despite his occasional warnings that they were for big people lol (sorry, dad!). I remember getting to grade 10 and having the difficult choice of choosing subject options, I had to choose between Additional Mathematics and Literature, this was a difficult decision for me, I loved math and I loved to read and so I presented my dilemma to my dad and we deliberated about what would be most ideal for me and dad who had a specialised background in both, advised I'd have more fun if I took literature, and he was so right! Also because I had already read some of the books in the syllabus from the bookshelf at home. As I reflected while writing this, I also remembered my grandfather, Bashikulu Besa, my dad’s dad, who has since gone to be with the Lord. My grandad read with me a lot; every time he visited, we would read together, and he told me numerous "guessing stories," including folktales—utushimi. I smiled as I thought about his funny way of pronouncing certain words, like how he would say "na-u-ti" when saying naughty. He’d say things like, "I will tell ‘yowa’ mother that you are a na-u-ti girl," and as a kid I thought it was the funniest thing. Oh, Bashikulu. So anyway, this Father’s Day, as I reflect on my dad and our relationship, our shared love for stories stands out. I celebrate the man who instilled in me a passion for reading, the man who helped raise a girl who loves a good story. And to think my journey with WilaWane Store begun simply with me being determined to learn to share that love for reading and stories with my own kids. So now my dad, from his own journey as dad and as a retired educator and seasoned curriculum development expert, is a valuable resource as I navigate WilaWane Store. I am so grateful that I have these memories and hopefully my children too when older can have stories to share about their journey with stories. Happy Father’s Day to you, Bashikulu Wila, Bashi Kayanda, Ba Fanwell Besa. I appreciate you more than words can say. And to all the wonderful dads out there, happy Father’s Day. And I hope you take time to share some stories with your little ones. They make such beautiful memories.