by Ivy Guinto Fernandez on Sunday, June 21, 2009 at 11:29pm
To my dearest Dad,
I would like to thank God for choosing you to be my earthly father, I couldn't have picked a better one. I remember those times when you were teaching me how to write and how stubborn I was in insisting to write with my left hand, you kept on transferring the pencil to my right hand and yet it always end up on my left, I guess that was the first sign of how stubborn I would be when I grow up. Being the only child for 5 years , I basked in the attention you & mom gave me, thus when the 2nd, the 3rd, till the 7th came along, I found myself pushed away from the limelight and sharing the responsibility of helping take care of my younger siblings..I guess it was the constant stay at the hospital every time mom gives birth & visits to the pediatrician that somehow influenced me to take up medicine and dream of becoming a doctor someday, which you supported and how. You made sure that we got the best education possible by working in a foreign land, you went when I was barely 12, such a young age to understand life and take on life. I missed your advice on how it is to be a teenager, then as I was about to enter college and experience having male classmates for the first time you were not also around to tell me how to deal with grown-up boys and boy how I did learn!
Suffice it to say that as years went by without your constant presence in our lives, we struggled in our personal lives, faced our fears and challenges with mom's guidance (though with constant phone calls from you)..I learned a lot of lessons then- about truthfulness, about responsibility, about how to have it all and lose it all again, about love..I think if you were around there were lessons I would have not learned and would have missed the chance of going through the difficult part of learning. Yup, would have loved to learn the easy way, but hey, those tough times toughened me so I have no regrets. All things happen for a reason as they say..
All in all, I thank you for doing your best to be the best father for us..I realized how much you sacrificed for us, how the best of your health were consumed by working abroad, and no amount of thanks can ever show how grateful I am for everything that you and mom have done for us....I miss you so much, its been 16 years now since Jay took me away from Manila...I guess, I'm kinda nostalgic now because its your day and I have not been with you for the past years to celebrate it, haven't celebrated it with you since you left when I was 12, then when you decided to come home for good, that's when I got married so we really never had the chance to reconnect & pick up where we left off..I miss cooking pancakes for you as my way of making up to you whenever you are angry at me... I miss your hugs and kisses, and those times we spent just seating in front of the stereo and listening to your favorite songs...I want you to know that I may have been lacking in showing you how much I love you - the distance being no excuse- I do miss you and mom a lot...I love you very much!!!! My only request- take care of mom for as long as you both shall live- respect and love one another...you are two of my treasures!!! And I realized, you are the best set of parents for me and no one else.
Happy Father's Day Dad...I hope that I will be given the chance to celebrate it with you again just like the old times!!!!
Ivy
PS: Irene, Ivory, Imee, Joseph, Mel- thanks for filling the gap, thanks for taking care of mom and dad...I know I have been remiss in my obligations and I am thankful you don't resent me for it and that you continue to do your part and even do my part for me...I love you!!!! Please give this letter to dad and mom...God bless us all!
I would like to thank God for choosing you to be my earthly father, I couldn't have picked a better one. I remember those times when you were teaching me how to write and how stubborn I was in insisting to write with my left hand, you kept on transferring the pencil to my right hand and yet it always end up on my left, I guess that was the first sign of how stubborn I would be when I grow up. Being the only child for 5 years , I basked in the attention you & mom gave me, thus when the 2nd, the 3rd, till the 7th came along, I found myself pushed away from the limelight and sharing the responsibility of helping take care of my younger siblings..I guess it was the constant stay at the hospital every time mom gives birth & visits to the pediatrician that somehow influenced me to take up medicine and dream of becoming a doctor someday, which you supported and how. You made sure that we got the best education possible by working in a foreign land, you went when I was barely 12, such a young age to understand life and take on life. I missed your advice on how it is to be a teenager, then as I was about to enter college and experience having male classmates for the first time you were not also around to tell me how to deal with grown-up boys and boy how I did learn!
Suffice it to say that as years went by without your constant presence in our lives, we struggled in our personal lives, faced our fears and challenges with mom's guidance (though with constant phone calls from you)..I learned a lot of lessons then- about truthfulness, about responsibility, about how to have it all and lose it all again, about love..I think if you were around there were lessons I would have not learned and would have missed the chance of going through the difficult part of learning. Yup, would have loved to learn the easy way, but hey, those tough times toughened me so I have no regrets. All things happen for a reason as they say..
All in all, I thank you for doing your best to be the best father for us..I realized how much you sacrificed for us, how the best of your health were consumed by working abroad, and no amount of thanks can ever show how grateful I am for everything that you and mom have done for us....I miss you so much, its been 16 years now since Jay took me away from Manila...I guess, I'm kinda nostalgic now because its your day and I have not been with you for the past years to celebrate it, haven't celebrated it with you since you left when I was 12, then when you decided to come home for good, that's when I got married so we really never had the chance to reconnect & pick up where we left off..I miss cooking pancakes for you as my way of making up to you whenever you are angry at me... I miss your hugs and kisses, and those times we spent just seating in front of the stereo and listening to your favorite songs...I want you to know that I may have been lacking in showing you how much I love you - the distance being no excuse- I do miss you and mom a lot...I love you very much!!!! My only request- take care of mom for as long as you both shall live- respect and love one another...you are two of my treasures!!! And I realized, you are the best set of parents for me and no one else.
Happy Father's Day Dad...I hope that I will be given the chance to celebrate it with you again just like the old times!!!!
Ivy
PS: Irene, Ivory, Imee, Joseph, Mel- thanks for filling the gap, thanks for taking care of mom and dad...I know I have been remiss in my obligations and I am thankful you don't resent me for it and that you continue to do your part and even do my part for me...I love you!!!! Please give this letter to dad and mom...God bless us all!
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