The Grandfather <3

I am a huge fan of big families... My own family is huge. While there are many who live abroad or far away, there is always an excuse ready to get together. 

I don't get people who don't like to meet with families. By families I mean extended and such. My family on both my mum and my dad's side is a big one. With losts of children and adults, my family has now entered the fourth generation cycle mashAllah.... 

It's a completely different story that I might not be able to remember all the names of the husbands and the wives and the children. This is not odd, as we meet after sometime and it's alright to not remember.

The reason for this post is nostalgia, plain and simple. Today was my dad's dad's birthday. ( I don't know if it was the way of saying that) and we had a semi huge celebration. It was his 89th birthday mashAllah. 

I love and cherish this man. He has lost most of his sight, most of his ability to hear; not all though, it comes back when it's something he needs to eavesdrop on. And has to walk holding two walking sticks as he is extremely overweight and his legs can't carry all the weight....

But this man is AWESOME!!!!!! He is the man who has held this family tight through thick and thin. He is the man who has weathered all and any storm which has come. I mean just look at the years he has managed to survive, in a world where heart problems and other such problems are taking lives left, right and center. 

I love him!! There is no question about it, he had managed to be my role model and the grandfather who rolls with the times. He uses Skype, he uses his personal computer to read his daily  newspaper, he let's us know about what the world is coming to "salay abaadi nahi rook sakte", "in angrezu ko kuch Nahi pata salay kahan se ai hain!!" And my personal favorite "mat bool ke Pakistani team haar jai gi". In the order mentioned: "bastards can't control population", "these English men don't even know their own history", and "don't say the Pakistani team is going to lose". 

He has an invested interest in all our  education. He makes it a point to ask about when my bachelors is going to end, what I will or have majored in and where do I plan on working. He repeatedly lectures me on how important it is to take care of the man of my life and how marriage is not that far off for me.

I remember him being the one taking me out for drives when I couldn't sleep at night as a child. He would drive me around the block until I fell asleep in the back seat. He was the one who told me all the fairy tales and reminded me how to always pray to Allah for everything he has given me. 

For me this man is everything. I can't ever imagine him not bein around. Infact around 2 years ago when he gave us a scare, it was our complete and unshakeable belief in his will power to live , that we didn't not even consider the alternative. 

I love you soooo much dadu, no man can ever hold a candle to the love I have for you. And I hope and pray with all my heart you are there healthy and hearty to give the same love and protection to my children someday.