Giant In Hiding

I hold vivid memories of myself as a lass sitting on my parents’ matrimonial bed with my father, listening to him. I cannot say how many times we held such conversations at the same venue. His messages were consistent. Nature would discipline the undisciplined with her long hand – we had to heed his word and be watchful.“Men are like wolves – they salivate when they see you – but that’s all.”“There is only one man that wishes you as Nyiiro’s daughters the very best and that man is Nyiiro himself.”Eventually we would marry – of course, and stay married - but only for love and if love disappeared, his home was open. His daughters would not stay glued to men merely for food, shelter and other provisions. Education would have all that sorted.And the battering of wives that was growing rampant would be far from us because the men in our lives would want to think twice before laying a finger on us. That’s what education would do for us – Nyiiro’s three girls. That’s why as our parents, they would do everything, including denying themselves the basic needs of life to pay our school fees – and they did.