Here are excerpts from the interview.
Give me a sense of your relationship with your dad
Would I be able to express it in words? We understand each other immensely. We used to finish each other’s sentences. Sometimes, I even know what he wants to say before he says it. It wasn’t always like that because I felt he was too strict but as I grew older, I began to understand him.
Can you remember how you both felt, your father and you, the day you were getting married?
My dad was in his element! He was overjoyed. He made sure everything went well. I remember the evening after the “Iku aka” ceremony, my dad asked me to buy him a bottle of beer to celebrate it. He was especially elated because my sister had just been given a visa to study abroad the same week! And so, he toasted to the success of the two of us that night.
Can you recall your father’s seeming fear of losing you?
There was no fear, at all. He tells anyone who cares to listen that Norbert Young is his first-born. He says he didn’t lose a daughter. Instead, he got a son in return. I remember the month after my traditional wedding, I showed up in the house without notice and my dad was surprised to see me.
He asked if anything was wrong and I said no; he then asked for my husband, I told him that he was fine. I then asked why he was asking me all that and that couldn’t I just come home anymore because I was married? He said no, that my home was with my husband now. I laughed. He used to love teasing me a lot like that.
Source: Daily Sun Newspaper
