The way I see him

From F1 Barbie dolls to pink and yellow rooms – I had everything a 6 year old girl could want. It would only take me one cute look and a couple of ‘pretty please’ to get my dad wrapped around all ten of my little fingers.

Mom on the other hand was the party pooper, or as dad and I liked to call her ‘The elephant butt’. Please say that you can see the OBVIOUS significance between the two. She was (and still is) the only woman who can keep me on my toes.

Even though dad never liked to result into ‘discipline’ he would teach me a lesson in his own special way. For example:
Me: Dad I want ice cream!
Dad: Not until you’ve finished your dinner.
Me: BUT I WANT ICE CREAM NOW!

*10 minutes later, a sobbing Sarah sits on the couch eating more than 15 ice creams, all brands, all flavours!*

And here’s another lesson I will never forget!
The happy Stephen family had just arrived in Germany to see an F1 race. Now the mom and the dad have already been to a few F1s, but for me, a very fashion conscious 6 year old, it was my first. Sitting pretty in the grand stands, opposite the Ferrari pit lane with Schumacher branded tees and cap, I refused to put the bright orange ear plugs in my ears. Mom went on and on about why I should put it and even resorted to threats! But dad said to me ‘You are going to learn your next lesson very soon young lady!’ And he smiled!
A few seconds into the race, my fashion sense dropped and common sense prevailed! I BEGGED with dad for the ear plugs! And I got it eventually after about 3 laps, my ears were finally protected.
Since then, every time we packed for an F1 race, I would make sure I ALWAYS packed my nice sore orange ear plugs too!

Most of the times Dad and I had special ‘father daughter’ bonds. That included me playing on his ‘computee’ or dad trying to explain a game of cricket, F1 or cycling.

Dad was always a ‘computer geek’. Something I call ‘unattractive.’ By the way, sorry to all the men on this blog who I just offended, you’re all attractive in your own special way! Back to my point, dad was always a computer geek – something I still call unattractive. Wait, I already explained that. Well the point is that he was a geek!! He was always the one to buy gadgets play with it and then toss it to mom or me!

Here’s another conversation:
Me: Dad, I think iPods are cool (Back in my day, we had iPods not Macbooks and iPads like now! Giggle! I always wanted to use mom’s back in my days dialogue!!)
Dad: Yeah … I think they are too
Me: How much does one cost?
Dad: About 600 dirhams … why?
Me: I was going to ask you if we could buy one, but I think that’s too expensive.
*45 minutes later* Dad: Lets go out to the mall
Me: OK.
*2 hours later, a happy Sarah gets into the car with a brand new iPod nano 3rd generation - which is later to be replaced by an iPhone.*

He wasn’t ‘cool’ in only my eyes – my friends thought he was amazing too! What with the blue shades and the puma shoes and the designer jeans – how can you not think that dude is cool?!
To them he was a rich guy who would be there after school, leaning against the hood of his BMW waiting for his daughter to come out but to me he was my dad, my mentor and above all my math tutor with little patience for the 12 year old who didn’t know how to find X. As a result, there were many unsolved equations, including the mystery of the flying math text books!

To me, X was only significant if you were a pirate. But to my dad – X was important for X amount of reasons. (-Ha-ha! See what I did there?)

Dad always encouraged me to learn from different cultures of the world and with that, I think I was the only girl in my class who would fly to Switzerland, Germany or Austria for the extended weekend and be back in time for the next school week.
Random father daughter bond fact: Dad and I liked to experiment: when we went to different countries. I would try the ice cream and he would try the beer and mom would sit there trying out the coffee.

Most of my hobbies have come to life because of my dad – I now have a growing passion for photography and creative writing. My taste in music is much wider than a typical fourteen year old. Instead of the normal “hip hop” and “R&B”, my ears are open to Heavy metal and Rock.

Which brings me to my next point – concerts. Listening to the kind of music dad had introduced me to had given me an ear for the band Simple Plan. Within a few short months – I had officially proclaimed them as my favorite band ever! And when Simple Plan decided to come to Dubai on the 5th of December 2008, guess who decided to put up with a screaming 11 year old? Yes, my dad.

May 30th 2006 little Rachel was born. Mom and dad had this expensive brand of Patchi chocolates for our guests. I asked my dear sedated mother if I could take a box of chocolates to school. As expected, through her sedation she screamed “NO SARAH YOU CAN’T!” Seeing that I was upset, dad secretly passed me a small box of chocolates and told me to stuff it into my bag. He said “enjoy!” It was our little secret… Until now!

I find there is no reason –whatsoever to cry over the fact that my dad is not here physically.
Instead I know better – to celebrate his life and remember all the great times we’ve had with him.

My dad was and still is my best teacher and instructor. He taught me the right things and when there was something I couldn’t do (suppose a self defense kick) he would guide me in his own special way (by telling me in tangled riddles and quotes) and help me achieve my best.

So dad, I say to you today Merci Beaucoup pour tout et je t’aime!!
French was one of the languages dad and I used to communicate, to make sure our beloved party pooper (hem hem my mother) wouldn’t understand anything we said!