Recently a cousin of mine very ‘selfishly’ decided to get married outside the country and because it is a cousin, there is a minimum number of family members that must attend. My Father and I were the two who were chosen to go. Well, my Father was always going, and because I wouldn’t see him for about two months and also because we would be travelling in opposite directions of the globe, I decided to go with him.
I should preface this by saying, I had come to London not expecting to go to the wedding, so I had not prepared a suit. The wedding was on a Friday, and the day before, I had to run out to trusty TM Lewin. Got myself a suit, but because all of their suits are unfinished, I had to go to a tailor for an express job. That meant waiting till the morning of the wedding to pick up the suit. Through this ordeal, my Father was his supportive best. He reminded me why it is just good practice to travel with a suit, and more importantly, if you are in the country where a family member is getting married, you should already have a suit…wise words… my dad always has them for every situation.
The wedding was in Braintree. Braintree is 62 miles from North London. I, in South London, about 10 miles from where my Father was staying. All in all, I had about a 70-mile journey, where part of it would have to begin with a tram ride, then a train ride, then an underground ride, then a cab ride, before getting to my Father’s hotel, to change and so my journey began. I got up at about 5am, got to the tailors for 9am, on the dot and headed off to the hotel. There my Father and I were perfect representations of preparedness. As I manically ran around the room looking for the tie, I forgot to buy a tie, my Father is calmly sitting and watching the news. He does up a cuff link, then the other, then stands up, goes to the mirror and puts on a perfect Half Windsor knot. He looks across to me, and I can feel the disappointment. I have just fallen into and out of the shower, water splashed me at best and I am sure I was still wiping off soap with my towel. He suggests breakfast, and then offers me the car keys!!!!
So we are driving to Braintree, and every so often, I have to be reminded that although the car is super charged, we are in the UK, they have very active and very very incorruptible officers of the law, ergo, slow down or get arrested. But then something happens, some renegade upstart with his BMW thinks that he is my mate and can overtake me anyhow. “Who does he actually think he is?” I start to put my foot down, but I remember my Fathers words. He then reminds me, in case I misheard him, “Take Him” I look at my Father, who has just encouraged me to ‘responsibly’ over take this young thundercat.
We got to the wedding, and in record time, before most of the guests and decided to take a couple of pictures. It was one of the most picturesque settings, everything fantastically manicured, the church, medieval, with classic stained glass windows, even the Sun has come out to shine. It was a beautiful affair, the whole day, simply perfect. It could not have been a more perfect spring wedding.
My father and I decided to sneak off a little earlier than everyone, and just to fully compound the day, he challenged me to get back to London quicker than it took us to get to Braintree. I wont tell you the result of the challenge, but I will say, as tumultuous as the preceding day, and morning of the wedding were, it was well worth it, just to have a boys day with my Father. My dad is such an amazing man and I celebrate him this Father’s Day!
TOKUNBOH ADESANYA
