Everyone seems eager for holidays: it is a time to recuperate, rest, catch up on old friends and family too. But for me, the days were a compendium of two kinds of feelings; the amazing euphoria of meeting family again, since I lived in the hostel, at the big city, and the awkward feeling of being denied freedom, the mishap of being told what to do and when to do it.
Dad is an elder in "The First Apostolic Church"; that means striving to obtain approval before eyes of everyone. Believe me! It's extremely difficult to meet everyone expectations, that is if you can. You become everything but yourself. The roof top would indeed fall on you, if you by chance miss the early morning prayers by 4:30am, at the nearby assembly or doze off while prayer was ongoing. Dad's is like a telescope, his concentration, always on us. Home had a yoke of rules. We were like beings without a self will and Dad was apt in legislating and enforcing all the rules.
When Covid-19 emergency holiday caught everyone at noon. The worst began of me and my siblings. Staying at home became far choky, our breathe was spooky, because the bliss of life was swallowed up by the chunk of new rules, Dad laid up for Safety.
Dad exaggerated the Covid-19 situation in his manner, and so we all captives of fear!
After an urgent family meeting called by Dad. He ordered us, to thoroughly clean, mob and sanitize the house. From the living room, through the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the walkways, and the kitchen. Leaving the house for any course, inviting a friend over for whatever reason and even merely greeting a passerby or exchanging pleasantries with acquaintance, was totally prohibited. Dad was the only one allowed to go shopping at the mall, for the family needs; and he did that twice every week but with extreme caution! He made sure he avoided meeting his friends, acquaintance or business partners on his way. He would wash and sanitize his hands before and after shopping, and even wore gloves while shopping and disposed of them immediately after. He would also sanitize the door of his car before opening, and off course use a facemask. It was so rigid, that I and my siblings were all given individual sanitizer and facemask to use, while at home. We broke rules just to see the sun rays.
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