This is my father. He is 86 years old. This photo was taken by Marco (in black and white mode) at the family house veranda last Christmas after we all shared the traditional family Christmas breakfast.
The day before Christmas, my Tatay was rushed to the hospital. He had profuse nose bleeding. It was found out he had raised blood pressure. And I couldn’t rush to his side because I too, was suffering from a bout of my old sickness - positional vertigo. So I sent my son - Aypee, instead, who is incidentally a student nurse, to help look after him. Thank God, he only had to stay at the hospital for a day. His resiliency won over again.
Look at my father’s huge ears. If ancient belief were true that a person’s longevity could be measured by the size of his or her ears, then, I would say that indeed, Tatay lived up to that belief.
My father never went to college. But I, a college graduate with some post-college education, learned many things from him.
He taught me how to appreciate literature, how to love Math, how to value books, how to appreciate music and arts. Above all - I value the most useful thing he taught me - typing.
Yes, typing. If it were not for his patience to teach me the touch typing system, I would be struggling at this very moment just to post this article. But because of his persistence that I learned the right and proper way of typing, I was able to hurdle the piles of term papers, critical analyses, scripts, reaction papers and finally my thesis in college.
I love you, Tatay. I’m sorry if I was able to scale only half of the height you wanted me to reach. But I know, deep in your heart, you are proud of me. See…? I can type this article even with my eyes closed… I acquired a literary gift from the readings you insisted that I finished. And I gave you three lovely, intelligent grandchildren, right? Marriage may have stopped me from scaling farther like you wanted, but though I made a detour (much to your dismay) - I discovered this most fulfilling life - motherhood.
Ah, this is what I don’t like when I write or talk about loved ones - I cry.
Hi Rhodora!
Filipino folklore claims long ears signify a long life so your tatay has quite a long way to go still. My nanay is 88!
What a lovely site you have! I’m glad you dropped me a note which made me discover your site. I’ll be visiting often.
BTW, my brother suffered from vertigo for many years. He was a retired US sailor yet, even the naval doctors were unable to find him an effective cure — that is, until he did some research on his own and found the miracle cure himself — SALABAT! Yup, the bottled ones available in most grocery stores here in Manila.
Do you take the photos yourself?
Happy New Year!
Eric
That is such a nice tribute to your father. I wish mine was still around.
Hi Rhodora,
My original comment wasn’t posted; been having problems with Intenet since Taiwanese quake.
BTW, my brother, a retired US sailor, sufered from vertigo for many years. The US Navy medical services were unable to provide him with effective cure. On his own, he discovered a cure — SALABAT! Yes, the bottled ones available at all grocery stores in Metro Manila!
Eric! Lo and behold! I was trying to figure out last night why your comments are being considered spam, then as I awoke this morning, I found your messages here. haha! I believe that is how it works with us when we have some problems - sleep them off and the next day, the solution is right before you.
Thank you for your comments. Yes, I know your mother is 88. I have read all your entries! I have lurked on your site for three straight days, didn’t stop till I have read everything. LOL
Salabat? I think I’ll try that one. Thanks.
These photos here have stories of their own. Most were taken by my son who is developing a passion in photography. Others were from my phone cam.
Niceheart, thanks for dropping by. I do visit your site often and being a mother myself, I feel I connect with some of your “motherly” entries there.
this post strikes an emotional note in me because i am also very much attached to my father. i miss him the most during the Christmas season. as you can tell, my dad is no longer with us. but in my mind and heart he resonates with life and will always be remembered fondly.
he also taught me how to type. amazing, isn’t it? a simple thing like that, but if you think about it, it is lasting. the typewriters have all but gone the way of the dinosaurs, but we still use the same QWERTY keyboard for PCs.
hi! i posted a comment to this post before, but for some reason it was detected as spam.
Niceheart and Kathy:
Yes, I feel lucky that my dad is still around. He’s been very supportive of us all his 7 children. But now, at 86, he has changed. Madalas na wala na siyang imik. Sometimes, I take pity on him, because he seems to be oblivious of what’s happening around him, unlike before when he would discuss news, issues and ideas with us. He used to be a voracious reader. But now, he has lost interest, maybe because of his age.