My father values family more than anything. His entire life, his entire philosophy, his entire being is centred about family. As I mentioned before, my father trusts no one except his family- his blood-, he loves no one but his family, he adores his family and he himself chooses his family over anything. He himself told me this: If your friend- even your partner- was to come to you and ask you to dishonour/abandon your family/ betray your family, then you cut that person off instantly. My father's dream in life is to have a great, large family consisting of me and my sons, my siblings and their children and all of us living close to one another. My father- though against physical violence- always emphasized that if anyone dared to touch your family or hurt your family, then you shouldn't hesitate to harm that person back. Your family is the thing that created you, the thing that housed you, that made you the person you are. Whether you like it or not, family is the single most important thing in the development of one's character. Family isn't just a group of people who all share the same blood, family is a legacy. Family is a connection. Family is a link. We are not only linked through blood and life, but through experience and history. I have stated this before, but my father is incredibly proud of his history, of his lineage, of his blood. Every step he takes, every action he does, it's all in order to keep the legacy of our history. Even though we were hated by all, my father still loved his family. Even when his own family hurt him, he still remained loyal. And why? Because your family are other versions of you. Your siblings are just a mix of genetic combinations that could've been you. Your parents are your biological creators. Your ancestors are your genetic contribution. Everything in you- biologically and any other way- is so due to your family. Family should be honoured, it should be upheld.
Now that I've got the teaching itself out of the way, it's time for me to talk to you, to you individually. Family isn't so heavenly. Family isn't as I just portrayed it; that's how my father portrays it. I do agree, family is great, and you should always choose your family first. In my case, this makes sense as I- thankfully- have a 'good' family- whatever good means in this world! However, there's some people there that don't have a family, there's some people there that have a horrible family who instead of welcoming them as one of them, they treat them as the black sheep. And I am here to say that family isn't always necessarily your blood. Nine times out of ten, it is. However, in the rare cases that it's not, family are the people you genuinely trust and love. Family are the ones around you who have made you feel as though you have worth. Family are the people who were there with you when you collapsed and who brought you back up. They are there to celebrate with you when you succeed and there with you when you cry tears of failure and disappointment. They are the ones who sit at your bedside when your ill, they are the ones who come to you and read you books when you're hospitalized, the ones who visit you in prison and still treat you as a human. They are the ones who don't penalize you for being human and instead teach you. Family aren't just people, family is a feeling. If I hadn't had my current family, Zeke would've been my family, my friend which I trust with my life would be my family, my lover- if I could trust her- would be my family, my teachers at school who don't treat me as just a student would be my family. So you see, you should always put these people first over anything and everything. You should always have them at the second place in your heart- only before God- and never abandon them. Whether blood or not, if you abandon your family, you can't just come back. I mean, you can- the prodigal son was forgiven after all- but you won't be seen the same. You'd be seen as the one who betrayed everyone's trust, the one who left the only people who loved him for him. So, what I am trying to say is to always put the people which you consider as family above anything worldly as they are the ones who truly love you for you.
This has been the first book of The teaching's of my father. I am writing the finishing part in chapter five as I don't want to waste time writing a new file. I hope you all have learned something from reading this rather short book and I do understand and acknowledge that some of his teachings are a bit bigoted and old-fashioned you may but I have tried to evolve them and portray them in such a way that they don't appear as such. Nonetheless, I have enjoyed writing this and I do hope in my heart that you all have enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. I hope you have absorbed at least one piece of advice from this book and have tried to see where my father and I come from; we are traditional people after all, with traditional values and practices. Sometimes, I must admit, I hate my father for the rules he enforces yet I know that they are good for me. At a given point in time, I would've never written this as I would've disagreed with everything but I suppose I have grew enough to appreciate his constant critique and teaching. He himself actually supported me in my writing of this book, as he said in his own words: Write this book to remember my words if something was to happen to me. He always tells me to note down the things he teaches me in case he dies or something ridiculous along those lines, and I believe he'd be proud if he saw what I've written. Father, despite you being who you are and as rough and sometimes unbearably jarring as you are, I still love you. My readers, whomever you may be, I love you all as well and I hope you too have enjoyed this piece. My family and friends I love you all. My future lover, I won't say names just yet, I love you too. To all people named in this book, whether real name or fake, I hope you're all doing well and are in good spirit- especially you 'Fiona' wherever and however you may be. Above all, I love myself for finishing this. And my final bit of advice, value yourself and your trust. If I, personally, could only pick out one chapter it'd be teaching 1. Always be yourself and value your own self. You are your own person. Farewell, my dearest readers, I love you.
THE END