Today is Yimika’s birthday she turns 5 today, the much-acclaimed 5th year. You spoke about it with much enthusiasm and lots of plan; we planned to celebrate her 5th birthday with pomp and pageantry. I knew that you would have gone all the way to make sure Yimika has a spectacular 5th birthday party. Unfortunately, I’m sad to say that the day has finally arrived and you are not here. Though I know that you are looking down on us from heaven and sending goodwill along our path especially on a day like this – when your joy turns 5. You and Yimika always shared this affectionate bond typical of a father-daughter relationship, but more special. She was your sweet; little baby girl and she just always could melt your heart. I remember you could never bear to tell her NO, even when the right response would have been a NO. You just couldn’t look in her eyes and say No to her. She was her daddy’s girl and she knew she had you wrapped on the tip of her finger…and yes, she wielded that her power every now and then to have her way with her dad. Bunmi, your little girl turns 5 today, and you know what she told me she wanted for her birthday? She said she wanted her daddy to bring her a Lalaloopsy doll. That was all she wanted for her birthday. Not to say that she doesn’t have a clear understanding of you not being here with us, she knows that quite alright and she understands the finality of never being able to set her 2 lovely eyes on you. Inspite of this, all she wanted was her daddy bringing her favorite doll to her on her birthday. To say she misses you dearly and sorely is an under-statement. Yimika could be happier with her father. But she is a brave girl and the good Lord is by her side and I know that you are also watching over her. Yimika always talks about her dad, how much she misses you and how much she wishes you were here with us. No day passes by that she does not mention or speak about her daddy. You were the perfect dad any girl could ever wish for, and now having to live without your perfect gift indeed is tough. Today, we choose to mark her 5th birthday to make her happy and honor you because the least of what you would have wanted was to see a smile on your little girls face especially on her birthday. So we planned a play-date with 8 of her friends, but we are glad that 13 friends joined her play date. They played, swam, ate jumped around, had some pictures; it was a lot of fun for the kids. I am thankful that she was happy with how her day went. She also got really nice gifts. Grandma and grandpa gave her a piano and a bicycle. Mummy and Daddy (You and I) gave her her first desktop computer. I know you would have been in full support of getting her a computer system. She was elated and excited about her lovely gifts, not to mention the gifts from friends and family. …Phew…! This birthday is finally here and its wounding down. This day has been a long time coming, you know that. It was as if, all she wanted in life was to be 5. Remember at age 3, she was already asking if she was 5 years old. She was relentless at looking forward to being 5 every day of her less than 5-year-old life. One of her many frequent questions is this: Mummy, am 5 yet? Is my birthday tomorrow? Is my birthday next week? Is Aug. 27 tomorrow? We pretty much counted down to today from as far back as March. I can understand her eagerness to become 5 because she is the youngest in her class and pretty much all the classmates clocked 5 in the last academic and she just couldn’t wait to catch up with them. Bunmi, I know that your heart's desire is to be there as your children’s father. We had spoken about how you would take Yimika out on her first real date and set a precedence of excellence for her. You were going to show her how it is to be a man and how a good man should treat and address a lady. You were going re-affirm her feminity as your daughter and as a woman. She was going to see the opposite sex through her father’s eyes and her father’s example. You were supposed to set the benchmark for her. It hurts me to know that all this is lost in time and will never happen, but I want to want to let you know that even in such a short time, you have engraved your love upon her heart and she will never ever forget whom her father is and what he represented. The Lord who is the father to the fatherless will ensure that all bases her covered in her growth in Jesus’ Name – Amen! The words on the painted pottery were her exact words, not tutored or inspired by anybody to say those words. It came from her relationship with and knowledge of her daddy and what that meant to her. She is totally enthralled by her daddy. Death cannot take that away from her. She loves you sweetly and dearly, not ever laying her eyes on you again because God took you away cannot rob her of the love she knows you have for her. She just can never stop Loving her daddy the same way she always has. It’s indeed hard for a little girl not to have her daddy, especially a special daddy like you, I can only imagine what goes on in her little five year old mind. Bunmi, I know that you would give everything and anything to be there with your daughter on her 5th birthday. Keep watching over her and continue to send her lots of love and good wishes. Sleep on Heart of My Heart. OOA.