To the One Constant Man in My Life

In exactly a week from now, the world will be celebrating Father's Day. I will send you my usual message, will probably call you, tease you again about your white hair, and demand for the umpteenth time that you dye it black again. I will do all the routine stuffs, don't worry, I won't forget. But please allow me to greet you a bit early this year.

Thank you.

For showing me that unconditional love exists. I have seen it in the way you look at Mama, the way you smile at her and the way you tease her. Sometimes, it still puzzles me, but, hey, I do know it exists - especially when you hug her and tell her she's pretty (cloying alert!).

I have felt it at a young age when, after every single time you scolded me, you would still be the first one to approach me and hug me (that was when I realized love is not arrogant). Also, that was when I realized that despite my errors, you will always love me. Years later, I committed more blunders and disappointed you more but you still love me the same - your reassuring words are carved in my mind: "there is nothing you can do that will ever change my love for you."

Thank you for teaching me to treat others with respect and gentleness. I still remember it when we were kids and my brothers were fighting (well, really punching each other like little Muhammad Alis) - you staunchly reprimanded them and told us that we do not have the right to hurt our siblings because you never hurt us. Well, there was still one point when I chased my little brother with a bread knife (I blame puberty hormones though, haha) - but, in essence, because of you, all of us grew up to be kind and loving to each other.

Thank you for being my number one hero, chef, and banker all rolled into one. I vividly recall that one afternoon, I came home crying and when you asked why, I told you a classmate was giving me a hard time at school. You stormed out of the house, hunted down my classmate, and scolded him. Needless to say, he never teased me again (until one time when we were already in senior highschool, he tried to kiss me and I kicked him out of the vehicle, ha!). When you cooked pancakes for breakfast. When you offered to buy me stuffs even if I was not asking (it was as if you knew exactly what I need even before I know it myself). Thank you. For all the mundane and ordinary manifestations of love - thank you.

We never really talked about it but just by being you...you have shown me the basics of love and therefore, how it is to be a human being. You have shown me that I should be generous, kind, gentle, and ever-forgiving. You have shown me the value of humility and treating others with respect. You have shown me that love can be silly like you and vain like you and that love can talk politics all the time, like you.

But, most importantly, you taught me to be constant - to be ever-persevering, in love and in life.

Thank you for being the best father I could ever hope for. Thank you for supporting my unconventional decisions. Thank you for letting me discover my own dreams. Thank you for not judging me for the kind of life I have chosen to live. Thank you for motivating me to pursue excellence and also for reassuring me whenever I feel like a total failure. Thank you for the tenacious understanding and steadfast love.

Thank you. Everything I have and everything I am and everything I will ever be - I owe to you (and mama).