Kweku’s Korner
Muhibb Dyer and
family
By Muhibb Dyer
They say the two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why you are born. On February 2, 2007, my daughter Zariah Dyer’s birth cemented the idea in my soul that I was born to be a father.
This can be a strange notion where I’m from, for it seems the only hood we fail to represent is Fatherhood. But the beautiful brown eyes of my baby, spoke a different path to me, far from the reality of a deadbeat. “Nobody cares about your lack of preparedness to fulfill this duty given to you by God,” she scolded me! “My life demands that you become a man!” No more sleeping until noon daily, or living in your parents’ basement; if greatness should be my birthright, then royalty I must see in you first! Fast forward seventeen years later, on the verge of her graduating high school, my words are simply, thank you Zariah, for transforming a boy full of excuses into a man! I thank you for every time we did homework together, and for daddy-daughter’s trips to the salon. For allowing me to coach you in track and taking me on a journey to eight Junior Olympics! I have been there every step of the way, tracking you on GPS even when you were in Spain! Risking my life to teach you how to drive! But for you, I’d make that sacrifice. I love you with all that I am. And though I haven’t been perfect, I pray you forgive my shortcomings and know I did my best. It has been an honor being a father to you, my child. I’m truly blessed.
And if that was not enough, lightning struck the same place twice, and God saw fit to put another great gift in my lap!
On May 17, 2015, my second self was born: Mahdiya Dyer. She looks like me, walks the earth like me, full of kindness and love like I try to be! A joyous and fantastic liver of life like I used to be. She is wise beyond her years, an old soul who always knows the right thing to say even in challenging situations. So, when I grow up, I want to be just like my Mahdi Divine! I want to bring light to every room as if I were the sunshine! I want to be excited about receiving even the smallest of gifts and express the love in me without harboring resentment. I’m thankful for you choosing me to be your father; you are truly heaven-sent!
Before I kiss this life goodbye and journey through the infinite, I think of two of my greatest gifts and how they bring me happiness! One turned me into a man, the other permitted me to be a child! My yin and yang, giving me balance through my life in the here and now.