I am glad that this blog allows us to talk about whatever we please. Today, I would like to speak about my family. When the previous sentence is read, what comes to mind is a picture of the nuclear family consisting of a father, mother, and probably children. Some family-oriented people will think about the extended family, including glimpses of uncles, aunties, and even grandparents. What is, however, nonapparent at first glance is the fact that when one becomes a parent and has children, that sentence can refer to a new set of individuals. I am referring to my immediate family, wife, and two children to clarify that ambiguity.
Many people felt it was too hasty when I got married, and I should have waited a bit to become more financially stable before tying the knot. The thing I have realized from my 38 years old single friends is that the perfect time will never come after a certain age. I am proud to say that I do not regret the decision to start a family early, and I am incredibly grateful to the woman that God gave to me.
That being said, this blog post is dedicated to my family. I will now share what I feel about each of them and hope that this will lead to an epiphany to enable me to love them better. Let me start with my wife, Wuraola Rugbere. A brilliant young girl from Shaki in Oyo State moved to the city of Abuja in 2010 for her NYSC, where she met her heartthrob. Wura is an exceptional being, and I believe the only one in this world that God created to tolerate my excesses. We have had our ups and downs, from a disastrous breakup after I called off our wedding initially in 2014 to a fairy tale wedding one month after we reunited in 2017. She is not perfect, but I appreciate the effort she puts in to be better and does right by our children and me. This post is planned, by the way, because today is her birthday.

Now let me talk about my kids. As I stated earlier, Wura and I are blessed with two sons. The older boy is my namesake, Happy Rugbere, and his younger brother, Zane, also shares the same Rugbere surname. I still do not understand the face people give me when I tell them my first son is my namesake. Due to the natural tendency of representative heuristics in humans, I can almost always guess the next thing they would say; is Happy Junior suitable? Well, wrong. We decided not to make him junior even tho the norm in Africa is to call children bearing the same name as their father, Junior. Happy is an exceptional child, unique in his peculiar ways. I remember how his mum and I were always worried at every milestone he did not meet on time. I remember once when the doctor laughed at our worried faces as we explained in terror how he could not ‘rollover’. For those of you that do not know, rolling over for an infant is one of the developmental milestones. I look at him now and wonder how many new parents are worried sick over such trivial matters. I am happy to say that Happy is now a healthy child, developing at his own pace and learning new things every day. I would have spoken about his behavior, but this is a public domain.
Our second and last child, Zane, is another character altogether. With the strength of 10,000 men, Zane seems to be a superhero stuck in the body of an infant. At just two years old, he can literarily wrestle his mum and me to exhaustion, an event that we have to put up with any time we are tasked with giving him his drugs. Unlike his elder brother, Zane looks like me even without bearing my name. He has the same body stature as me and always looks like he is about to hit you with a power slam.
I love my family so much, and I am grateful that my wife is a tigress and can hold both soldiers and me in place.
Signed: The prince of business
Happy father, happier husband 🙂