Happy Fathers’ Day!

Most people know my father as “Ka Gideon” the choir organist and teacher who makes them laugh with his comments and frequent references to basketball when trying to teach ideas about singing. At work he is the funny accountant who greets you with, “I have been waiting for you all day!”, always ready to help and solve problems whatever they may be. But to me, he is Papa, my father, friend and hero.
This weekend marks my father’s 29th Father’s Day celebration as well as his 56th birthday. I have to say that if there are awards for best fathers, my father should win a prize. He has always been there for my brother and me, even though he had to work abroad for many years. He always called us, brought us treats and worry about us incessantly, even until now that my brother and I are in our twenties.
When I was a child, I look forward to Saturdays nights because it was the only time we were allowed to eat in the living room because my mother would be in meetings at Church. My brother and I would take our baths at around seven in the evening, while my father cooked dinner. Then I would get our make-shift table, set it in front of the TV, and eat with him and brother while watching reruns of A-team and McGuyver. I remember pretending to sleep on the sofa so that my father would carry me to my bed. On Sunday afternoons I would read with him before we take our nap or sometimes I would braid his short hair and clasp them with my small colorful clips, then laugh about it when he wakes up.
My mother taught me how to read but my father introduced me to the joys of language. My earliest memories included reciting and guessing riddles with him even before I was old enough to go to school. Syntax and Semantics to us are an endless source of laughter and amusement. He introduced me to Reader’s Digest which we subscribe to until now. I fell in love with the solar system at age seven through the colorful pictures and descriptions we read together at night. He showed me the map of the world, the globe, and the Atlas and told me about places my grandfather visited in his voyages as a crew in a ship. I loved those maps too, and the thought of many different people and places to see in the future. I was amazed to learn that there are so many different languages and someday I might learn another one aside from Tagalog and English.
My father is my source of strength and inspiration. When I decided to go back to college and become a teacher, he gave me his full support and told me that I should pursue a career that would make me happy. This year when I panicked about my papers and doubted my ability to teach, he is the first person I called and he would always tell me to pray and lay all my cares to God. When I got into an accident, I was afraid he would scold me but what I heard was his genuine care and concern and thankfulness that I was not hurt.
Papa, thank you for everything. The best compliment I got from you was when you told me you are lucky to have a daughter like me. Actually I don’t feel worthy, because in my eyes, I am the lucky one.