Dad: "You are already my gift"

Puppets by my tiwn sister Jillian

We finally made a groundbreaking record: making our dad shed tears of joy.

It's his birthday today and we decided to experiment on another childish presentation to amuse him on his special day: a puppet show. His seasonal cold was a spoiler, but he managed to watch our unrehearsed play with a big smile on his face.

Entitled, "Around the World in 10 Minutes", the story was in Dora the Explorer style: we were about to give our gift to dad when Cuba Gooding Jr. (Swiper) stole it and scattered the pieces around the world. We met dad's favorite artists along the way, like Sylvester Stallone, Sean Connery, Richard Gere and Jason Statham, and they helped us in our "mission". 

We also inserted The Beatles songs ever after stopover, which made him laugh while he told my big sister Ate Nadine the song titles.

In the end, dad had tears in his eyes we seriously didn't expect, and even my brother Norman secretly cried and said to me he was moved by dad's tears of joy.

When we announced we had a surprise gift for him, he said, "Gift? Eh kayong mga anak ko na ang regalo ko para sa birthday ko."

Well, that moved me to tears.

We love you dad!

When dad says "It's hard to be alone"

You know why you knew the Beatles: because of your dad

One more reason for me to shout "ET Phone Home!" right after classes.


It would be 7:59pm, a good 10 minutes earlier because my classmates tweaked the clock for quick departure. I actually appreciate it, and everybody could be a witness I would be faster than light when I leave the room and go home.


I never felt mentally comforted by the classroom atmosphere, with all the girls' noise sounding like they were being raped or kidnapped. 

My dad, for the first time wearing a New Year hat

Even sometimes I would hate to go to school earlier than usual because my dad would always say, "Ang hirap kasi kapag ako lang ang kumakain mag-isa eh."


I would always consider myself lucky when it comes to family because I have a 58-year-old dad who still cooks breakfast for us. I remembered my twin sister Jillian telling me dad had been counting the days when I'd have to go to school earlier. He had said:


"Ayan dalawang araw na lang tapos na training ni Je. Tapos sabay-sabay ulit tayo kakain ng lunch sa bahay."


There are three things I would miss about my dad:


1. His special fried rice. Since mom had found a job, dad would often cook breakfast for us with his lip-smacking fried rice, sometimes cooked in adobo sauce or with scrambled eggs. Anything that was left from last night's dinner he manages to "recycle" by cooking it with rice. He would always say food is a blessing, and not many people have the good fortune to eat three times a day.

2. His fondness with Eat Bulaga's Pinoy Henyo. It would be about 1pm and we would always join him during weekends to watch and laugh at the "stupid" Pinoy Henyo contestants trying to guess the word "nunal". Dad would always make us laugh at his reenactments of the game. He would say:


Dad: Pinapahula microwave oven. Sabi ng nanghuhula, 
"Microwave?" 
"Oo!" 
"Oven?"
"Oo!"
       Tanga kasi hindi pa pinagsama yung microwave at oven. Naubos tuloy yung oras hindi rin nakuha yung tamang sagot.


Dad: Ang word "fork". Sabi ng contestant,
        "Tinidor?!"
        "OO!!!"
        "Kustara?"
        "Hindi!"
        "Kubyertos ba to?!"
         "Oo nga!"
        Ayun isa pang bobo hindi pa ginawang English yung tinidor napalayo pa tuloy.


Dad: May isa pang bobo nagtanong,
         "Tao ba to?!"
          "Hindi!"
          "Lugar to?!"
           "Oo!"
           "Artista? Sa GMA 7?!"
          Grabe lugar na pala ang artista ngayon.

The Beatles

3. His undying devotion for The Beatles. He would always boast he had bought the original CD's of the Beatles and invite us to watch their concerts in CD's during weekends. He would explain to us the meaning of every song they composed. 


Dad has influenced me to like very old songs (aside from Ms. Josephine Bonsol who would often sing 1940's songs during our classes). He would also often listen to Bread and David Gates, Lionel Richie, Michael Learns to Rock, and watch Bee Gees, Eric Clapton and Don McClean concerts.

Bee Gees

I hate to think I would cry for a lot of things when the people I deem responsible for who I am right now would be long gone. 


But then Jigsaw (Saw series) and Morrie Schwartz (Tuesdays with Morrie) once said emotions should not be involved in doing or fulfilling something because they are deceiving. 


Ms. Josephine Bonsol told me truly loving someone does not involve emotions anymore, only actions of pure love. Once I also thought it might be better not to meet friends and love families so I won't feel hurt in the end. But then I would've not learned anything and not valued more important things.


So in the end at least there would always be someone worth remembering and stories with them worth sharing.