special day

he got married at 40 and was 50 when i was born. the man who's old enough to be my grandfather, but is in fact, my dad would have been 80 today. the whole family was at the cemetery today to be with him on his birthday.

long before his grandchildren came, being the youngest, i was his little girl and was spared from the usual punishments my siblings got while they were growing up. even after i was fully grown up, my brothers would cajole my dad to use his leather belt on me everytime i arrived home late. of course, they were unsuccessful. up until i was in my early teens, my dad and i had a ritual everyday and that consisted of kissing him on both cheeks, afterwhich, he would smell both my armpits then give each other a hug. we called it "tuka". but when i got a little older, the tuka was modified into a simple kiss on the cheeks.

i thought that with the arrival of his first 2 grandchildren, my role as his baby would be delegated to them. it did, in some ways, but for most of the time, i remained his baby. in fact, when i was already in my internship, my dad still wouldn't allow me to go back to my dorm alone in a cab. if there was no one to drive me, he would accompany me back to the dorm in a cab since he didn't drive. he was already in his mid 70s at the time.

just like any son or daughter, i thought my dad would live forever. although i knew he was way older than my friends' dads and that he used to be a heavy smoker (he died from lung ca), somehow i hoped that he would still be with us for a much longer time. but i have to be content with the thought that though he may not be with us physically, he's definitely up there watching over us all. and all the shared memories and love remain in our hearts forever.