Tweet

By S. Creque

BASSETERRE; St. Kitts: AS we celebrate Father’s Day 2021, today (June 20), it is hoped that Fathers are still choosing to be a light in their offspring’s life despite challenges.

That they will continue to flourish in the work they do of providing, building dreams, nurturing talent, straightening the rough edges with discipline, and sharing wisdom with their children.

It is hoped that this day will recognize and celebrate the contributions that fathers, stepfathers, and other father-figures make in the lives of their family and to the well-being of our entire community.

Fathers are necessary and their tried and true words of wisdom are special and memorable.

We spoke with a number of people about the best advice they have ever received from their father.

Here’s what they had to say:

Rohanda Devent-Thompson: “My Daddy tells me repeatedly that there is nothing out there that man has done before you that you cannot do and do it better than they did. Daddy was a shoemaker and his claim to fame was making replicas of Nike shoes and he was determined to remake those shoes in St. Kitts by hand without a factory. He became known for those shoes. He always reinforces that if you have confidence in yourself and your skill, I or any of his children can do anything we put our minds to like he did.”

Iana Franks: My father tends to make the remark, “If we give men the genuine chance to be fathers without any imputations, we will see what an amazing job they can do. Self-experiences are always the best lessons and as I look back at my father’s journey as a daughter, I can concur that if we remove any stains of fears, doubt or naysayers from our journey in life, our endeavors will truly be a remarkable one”.

Joevany Herbert: “The best advice my Dad gave me was to always be better than him also even though we may feel we and people (are) good. It’s sometimes better to ride alone.

Enoete Inanga: “Make sure you are economically strong before you get married”

Kenesia Jack: My father has consistently supported me since I was conceived to this present day. Every and anything he has ever told me, holds a lot of weight in my heart and my love and respect for him is infinite. As a child my father told me to “never lose the fight”. After my first physical fight in school, it replayed in my head for years. He trained professionally as a boxer in Trinidad where he was born and raised. I felt extremely embarrassed for getting beat up and not living up to my Dad’s expectations especially since he had frequent self-defense fighting classes with me. What I took from his quote initially was “bullying the bully” or “always physically win fights” and use the bragging rights as a badge for winning this competition with someone else for who is the “coolest / baddest”. As I’ve aged and grown mentally and spiritually, the fight he was referring to was life. It pays to be resilient, it pays to get back up after falling down, and the only competition you should have in life is your shadow self. Don’t lose the fight, Don’t lose life, Keep going, Always.

Jomo Williams: The one thing I can distinctly remember is when I was going university he told me, “There are three things you can do in university, books, girls and party. You can only do one at a time so choose wisely!”

Kervin ‘Milo’ Freeman: “Learn your lesson. They can take your life but they can’t take what’s in your brain”.

Wallis Wilkin: My Dad was a gifted srtoryteller and never lost for words. He had many words of wisdom, encouragement, inspiration and advice. I would have to write a book to cover them all. But the one bit of advice or quote that he was his favourite and the one that he expressed to me almost daily was “IF YOU CAN’T BE GOOD, NE CAREFUL !”