When I read this letter that my friend Tosin Gbela wrote to his daughter on her third birthday yesterday, I was proud, and moved and touched, and impressed, and grateful. So I asked him permission to share on here. It was particularly lovely and refreshing to see because mothers are naturally the ones that get very heartfelt about their kids. I hope this inspires father’s to love their daughters/children, and be the first GOOD example of what real men should be like to them. Same for moms too. I hope parents set proper standards. See, this generation of parents MUST do better. Why, because we all have to remember that when you are done raising your kids, it is the rest of us who would have to deal with whatever you made out of them. So LOVE them, APPRECIATE them, TEACH them, be PRESENT, be PARENTS, do what you must do. For the sake of your daughters, please raise good sons, and for the sake of your sons, please raise good girls.

Happy Birthday Dolabomi, big cyber hug from eclectictope.com

My Oluwadolabomi Oluwakimilaya

Today November 29, 2015 you turned three (1095 days). True to all the clichés, I can hardly believe it. The days so often feel never-ending, yet the years pass in a blink. There is nothing I can say here that has not been said before. But I am going to say it anyways because I need you to know that it is true.

*Your mum must not see this part*
You have engulfed my heart. Inflated it like a balloon. Right this moment I am thinking about how much I love you and can feel it swelling in my chest and pulsing through my veins all the way into my fingers. I was overwhelmed with love for you from the moment you took your first breath. Yet, amazingly, it continues to grow. I look back on that day the Doctor put you in my arms immediately you left Detolu’s womb and now I see it was only the tip of an iceberg. Definitely you are the lead character in 3 years worth of my very best memories. Watching you grow from that little baby into the marvel you are today has been the greatest, most fulfilling, most enlightening journey and the very, very best thing we have seen.

Very big thanks to your Mum because she had to leave her banking job to take good care of you when we decided househelps can not replicate our dreams. I mean no disrespect to the other loves in my life, but there is no other like the one you gave rise to when you came into our lives. At the crudest level, I understand why evolution is based on an intuition to procreate. You were a secret key to a giant love reserved just for you. There is no other one like this and I cannot thank you enough for bringing it to life in me.

I love you for exactly who you are. People say you look like me and my heart gladdens because you are exactly what I prayed for. You know what you want, You are determined, tenacious and a strong leader. You are a highly-resourceful go-getter; just look at when you finished ALL the chocolate I brought from my last trip to the Middle East after I warned you not to.
Thank you for painting the whole house with your crayons, perhaps you are learning how to do amazing Graffitis. We are waiting for your creative skills to be unleashed on the world.
I won’t forget to add that you are the most wonderful drive partner in the horrible Lagos traffic. You apologize for all the wrongs that other Road Users cause us… You say things like “Dadddddddddy, is it that car… Kpele.”

It’s scintillating how you cope with my timelessness and always reach out to me when I am away trying to make our lives better.
You can and will do whatever you want in this world. We will continue to do our best to ensure you are a brave and principled little girl that loves GOD with a heart for making the world a better place.
You are indeed a handful, but you are kind and you are brave. You embrace every day and are not afraid to take chances. You arrive with love to give, provide hugs to anybody who needs one, a smile to light up the sky and you are the very best cuddler under the sun.
You are blessed with a truly remarkable Dad and Mum who love without fear and give without expectation… We promise to work hard and give you the best in life that we can afford.

Your extended family loves you fiercely as well. Your great grandfather, grandfather, aunties, uncles and cousins (by blood and otherwise) continue to shower you with special kinds of love. Please keep them in the inner circle of your heart and let your understanding of family grow, never shrink. There is no limit to the amount of love you can give.

I am already paralyzing myself with nostalgia and bracing myself for how fast time will continue to go by. I cannot get enough of you. But three years of this journey with you has also taught me to look forward to whatever moments and miracles come next. I have no doubt you will continue to stretch us in every way but look forward to learning and loving even more of you and I’m in awe that there is even more love to be found in me.

Thank you once again for every little bit of you. You set my heart on fire, little girl. You make this world a warmer and brighter place every day.
This short note cannot sure share all our very interesting memories but you know what lil Miss, you are my main MAN!!!

God, on this day please grant every other person praying for the fruit of the WOMB their requests In Jesus Name.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY DEAR DAUGHTER.