abah tersayang

What is your dad like? Mine has dark skin, short greying hair, wears glasses, big hands, strong arms that give tender hugs, cute belly which shows he's no longer in shape, fatherly figure and a warm soothing smile. He likes to read, a lot. I like watching him read because when he reads, he becomes so absorb with the book he's reading that he is actually lost in his own world. He forwards e-mails to his children from time to time and they always start with 'Just a reminder for my beloved children'. Being in the Navy nearly all his life had trained him to be punctual most of the time. He doesn't like being late. He has strong opinions about things. If he's not satisfied with something, he'd voice it out. He's a workaholic which is why he's never around much. Moreover, his job requires him to travel frequently. To him, it's not the about the quantity of time he spends with the family, but the quality of time. That's one of the reasons he didn't mind sending us all off to boarding schools before.

My dad likes to sing. His favourite song is 'Biarlah Bulan Bicara' by Broery Marantika. Whenever I hear that song, it reminds me of him. He's usually supportive, but in a weird way. If his children want to do something that he doesn't really approve of, he wouldn't say no immediately. He'd let us do it instead and realize for ourselves whether or not it's worth doing. Like the mishap which happened to me recently, he never went against the whole thing. For my dad, as long as I'm happy, he's happy. But when it's all over and I've learnt my lesson, he said; "Buat lah lagi" because he knows I'm never going to do it again. He thinks that life is about learning. Some of us learn life in a much harder way than the rest. My dad also never forgets to remind us when it's time to pray as we tend to get glued to the TV or internet or video games, etc. He'd say; "Pergi solat sayang, waktu dah nak habis."

My dad hardly fuss over anything. He's calm and patient, well, most of the time he is. Whenever his children do something stupid or crazy and my mom starts to fuss over it, he'd tell her to leave us alone, or he'd stay quiet. Like the time when I crashed my mom's car. It was just a small accident that left me shaky up until now. My parents were away in Spain and I decided to drive my mom's car and got into a teeny-weeny accident. I was afraid to tell my dad, afraid that he'd be mad at me. But I called him anyway and told him about what had happened. He didn't even scold me. I was so relieved I couldn't stop crying. Yeah, I'm a weirdo, I know. I told you my dad has a strange way in teaching his children.

My dad is very loving and tender. When I was 7, I had this bad pain in my ear that I couldn't sleep and cried all night. He brought me to the clinic right away without another thought. I also remember when I was 9, I was playing with my sisters in their room. We were jumping happily on the bed before I felt the muscles on my left leg started to stiffen and the next thing I knew, I fell off the bed and thought I broke my leg. As a crybaby, I started wailing and asked one of my sisters to call my dad and tell him that my leg was broken. He came rushing to the room to find me crying my heart out and checked my leg. It was just a cramp! Yeah, moi, the drama queen. But I didn't know what a cramp is until that night.

My dad is a generous man. He doesn't care how much money he spends on his children to make sure that we'll have a promising future. He doesn't spend much on himself. He never fails to remind us of the less unfortunate ones and always ask us to give away our old stuffs to others who might need them more than we do. Oh, sometimes new stuffs as well, like my shoes and bags and clothes for instance! =P My dad is wise. He advises us every now and then, telling us never to lose faith in God, to succeed in life, never depend on somebody else's wealth but your own, be nice and never hurt others, physically or mentally, always be grateful for what we have and appreciate your loved ones, which in this case is the family, etc.

My dad is always there when I need him. He is my shoulder to cry on and the person that I look up to. Despite his frequent voyages, he never fails to find time for the family. I can talk about anything with him, sometimes even gossips. He'd listen to me babble and would give his opinion when asked. He always believes in me, he believes I can do better and I deserve better. Why? Because I'm his daughter and he knows me that well to know what I'm capable of. And, I'm very lucky to have him as my dad and also lucky that I ressemble him in a lot of way.

Today, my dad turns 51. I can't be there on his birthday even though the whole France is on holiday today. Yeah, they're celebrating his birthday (NOT!!). C'est le jour de l'Armistice. Celebrating the end of the First World War. Anyways, Happy 51st Birthday, Abah! May Allah bless you. I wish you all the blessings and happiness in the world. Semoga dipanjangkan umur dan dimurahkan rezeki. I love you so much! *hugs* *big sloppy kisses*

Juliette xx
Listening to : Daddy - Beyoncé Knowles