this is for my dad, but you can read it if you want to...

Many years ago, I had a notebook where I wrote down little things I remember about my dad. Each item started with “I remember when…”

I intended to put them in little pieces of paper, put it in a jar and give it to him as a gift. My dad delights on little things his kids make for him. Too bad, I cannot find the notebook now so I will make an attempt to recreate what I wrote down many years ago.

I remember when…

You always drink cold water after you brush your teeth, and form an “O” with your mouth after you chug down a glass of water.

You bend your knees when you fix your hair on mommie’s “tokador” because the mirror is too low (I wonder why you didn’t just sit on a chair?).

You love playing pranks on your kids like the time you came home wearing a gorilla mask or the time you placed a poop paper mache on the bed.

Your heart broke when Digger got lost and drove around the neighborhood for more than an hour hoping to find him (I was pretty sure you were crying the whole time)

You give me a special massage every time my legs ache when it’s cold.

You rub my neck with Vicks and wrap it with bandanna when I have sore throat.

You pour your coffee on a saucer when it’s too hot to drink, then place it back in the cup when its a bit cooler.

You like eating pan de sal with butter and coco jam and would willingly make one for us when we eat breakfast together.

You let the one seated beside you in the car lead the morning prayer as you drive us to school in the morning.

You drove us around Makati during the holidays so we can see the Christmas lights and decorations of office buildings.

You tuck me and Dionne in every night and make us into little “sumans,” and pat us to sleep while singing “meme”

You and mommie speak in English everytime you talk about the little kids (and you thought we didn’t understand! Hahaha!)

You hire janitors in school so I don’t have to carry my bags when I go up the stairs.

You don't tell on me when I have stale uneaten sandwiches in my bag because you know Mommie would go ballistic.

You like recreating drawings you find in the encyclopedia (mostly skeletons) because you thought we would probably need it for some school project.

You make most of my projects for art class and always had your art work placed on the bulletin board because of high marks (as if my teachers believed I made it myself!). My favorite was the horse you made out of corkboard. That was the best!

You brought in a truckload of old newspaper (which you bought from a junk yard) so that our class would win the newspaper fund drive. We did, and got a swimming holiday for a prize.

You were a local heartthrob in my school and most of my teachers had a crush on you. They even gave you a pet name – James Bond.

You watch basketball every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday night. And the TV was off limits to all of us. We only had one TV those days and so we all secretly wished all basketball players would perish so we can watch other shows instead.

We drive as far as Greenhills to rent movies for our betamax, and you rented Dynasty and Falcon Crest so you wouldn’t have to follow it on TV.

You make us take a tablespoon of honey before going to bed, saying that it will make us sleep well.

You use the brown bag technique everytime we get hiccups and is quite successful in “catching” our hiccups in the bag.

On New Year’s Eve, you take us to Roxas Boulevard to look for the biggest and loudest “torotot.”

You make me wear headphones on New Year’s eve so I won’t hear the firecrackers.

You give us nicknames which up to now I wonder where you get. Bandangera, Burakda, Buleleng. I was “Bandang” for many years.

You make the trip to the drug store quite exciting because of “Horlicks.”

You come home, open your attaché case and its filled with beginner bras which you bought from an officemate (imagine, instead of Mommie, you were the one who bought me my first bra!).

You make it a point to be in every school presentation and once I was disappointed when you didn’t watch my performance as Jane of Aza. Later that night, you explained that you had to go to an important meeting.

You like giving other people rides in your rickety Volkswagen beetle which has seen better days.

………………………………………..


I have daddy to thank for having the best childhood. Looking back, I see myself laughing most of the time. We thrived on Daddy’s jokes, and flourished on his words of wisdom.

There is still so much I remember and all those memories – while simple and irrelevant to most – make me realize that I have a dad:

who is funny but serious about his role,

who is handsome but knows how to make fun of himself,

who is weird but uniquely charming,

who is thoughtful and giving,

who is prayerful and humble,

who is nurturing but teaches independence;

who can win the “Best Dad on Earth” award – hands down.



Happy Father’s Day Daddy!