Happy Father’s Day!!!
There is very little I know of my dad. He’s name is Manuel Lim Velez. He was born on April 27, 19??. I’m not sure about the year. Basta when he died last 1999, he was 60 or 61 years old. I’m not even sure how many siblings he has. 5 or 7 I guess. I only knew 3 of them, some by face and some by name.
Sa pagkaka-alam ko, he fathered 14 children to 5 different women. Kilala naming lahat ang isa’t isa. Andami namin noh? 8 girls and 6 boys. We’re the third family. And because of so many families, my father hardly spent so much time on us. Kaya sanay kami na wala siya sa bahay. He is a good provider though, financially. He is a well known businessman in Davao’s Chinatown. I even knew some of his business friends.
My father projects a very strong image. Kaya takot kaming magkakapatid sa kanya. Whenever he comes home, nagtatago kami lahat sa kwarto pretending to be asleep. He is a very serious, intelligent, & deep person. Parang lahat ng sinasabi niya, puro pangaral at sermon. Puro pilosopiya ng buhay na kailangan mo pang i-contemplate. I was only in high school then. Bawal manood ng tv lalo na kapag about love. Wala raw kwenta. He is referring sa mga teleserye. Dapat daw Discovery Channel or mga channels lang na may sense at yung may matututunan kami. Kapag summertime naman, dapat everyday nasa store kami tumutulong. There was a point nga na nainis talaga ako sa kanya kase parang he doesn’t want us to enjoy our life, our youth.
Pero ngayon ko lang na realize what he was trying to do. He was training us. He was teaching us how to run a business. He was teaching us about life in a different approach. Kaya nga when he died, sabi ko sa sarili ko, kahit hindi summer, araw-araw pupunta ako ng store bumalik lang papa ko. Tama talaga yung sinasabi nila na dun mo lang malalaman yung value ng isang tao kapag wala na ito.
I miss you papa. I LOVE YOU! I appreciate you now more than ever. Kahit konti lang yung memories namin sayo, it was worth a lifetime to remember.
P.S. My father is very good looking kaya no wonder maraming na-inlove sa kanya. (Kita naman sa lahi namin diba? Hehe)
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