Monday, June 19, 2006

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Yesterday was a special Sunday for me. I spent the entire day at my hometown Malaybalay. Well, it was Father’s Day then, and I wouldn’t let that weekend pass by without sparing a bonding session with the most important man in my life… my dad! We just had a simple celebration. Me and my sis created a “handmade” card for Dad. Some kind of a kid’s card ‘coz we just used pencils and crayons for the design, hehe! But the message etched inside the card was so special, me and my sis had glimpsed our dad kept on rereading those lines every now and then, hehe! Little as it may seem, but we knew deep in our hearts, our simple but profound message had touched Dad’s heart.

While I was on the bus, leaving my hometown and taking aboard back to CDO, I spent some quiet time thinking about my dad, who almost had missed the chance of pursuing college but had really worked on his own and was experiencing so much hardship just to finish college, who taught me my first ABC and eventually shared his antique typewriter and trained me to be a pro on the "keys" at an early age of 6, who shared wonderful stories with me and my sis amidst his stressful hours after work (“The Monkey and the Tortoise” was the first story he had ever shared and it became my favorite story, I wouldn't get bored no matter how many times he would repeat narrating as it was my most requested one, hehe!), who had a very wonderful voice and would put his guitar in my hands when I was a little girl and insisted that I sing as well (we had our music bonding session recorded on that so old cassette tape then, hehe!), who played chess with me when I was a kid (and taught me the 3-move tactic for check mate, ahhaa!), who would drag me and my sis along with him for a nature tripping at Sawaga River which paved way to my being a nature tripper myself, who loves pets the same way as I do, who would tag me along when he and Mom had household prayer meetings (and so I came to be acquainted with those prayers and worship songs at an early age of 4. I can't forget the first Charismatic song that I've memorized, "The Spirit of the Lord" and my dad would always remind me to pronounce the word "is" as "izzz", so I had sing it out loud: "the spirit of the Lord izzz now upon me..." hehe!), who once spanked me with that awful leather belt to remind me that I was absolutely wrong and had to hug me afterwards knowing that he loves me still despite my being so stubborn, who always stressed the importance of education, who became the person I would consult about important issues when I became an adult, and who has always been there for me through these years...


Words are not enough to thank my dad for all the great things he has done for me (and my mom and my sis). For me, the best dad there could ever be is the kind of dad he is to us.

Happy Father's Day, Papang!

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Here Comes The Bride!

Ows! What a catching title! Hehehe! Well, I suppose you’re all familiar with the month of June being often associated with weddings, thus the so-called June Bride. Wedding bells are here and so I might as well talk about it. Ooops! Not my wedding, huh! Not as of this time, hahaha! Just a short recollection of those previous and recent weddings I’ve been to.

“You really never got tired of attending weddings, Von!” was what my college friend told me. Hearing that remark, I couldn’t help but just shrug and smile from ear to ear knowing that I’ve always been present in almost all wedding engagements of my friends, classmates and colleagues. From the time I’ve graduated in college until now that I’m with the corporate world for almost seven years, there was never a single year that I didn’t get to witness a sacrament of matrimony (ows!?). Yeh! There even came a time when gracing my presence in such a special occasion has become a weekly event for me, whew! And I’m not talking here like I’m just a mere spectator of that event. I’m talking of those different tasks I got into. From a handful of weddings I’ve been to, it seemed that I’ve already portrayed almost every role a friend could throw at me – bridesmaid, commentator, psalmist, first reader, second reader, prayers of the faithful, offerer, usherette, co-planner, the list goes on. And.. ooops! Wedding singer!?! Toinks! You heard it right, anyway, haha! I can recall how my colleague Cherry pleaded me to sing on her wedding day. I dunno but I guess she has that irresistible charm ‘coz despite my refusal, I found myself saying “yes” at the very last hour. And I guess that started my singing career then, hahaha!

Two of the very touching weddings I’ve attended were that of my high school friends Cristine (2001) and Lucille (May 2006, a very recent one). I rarely saw an exchange of vows spoken spontaneously, with the bride uttering each word to the groom with intense fervor, her cracking voice could break into tears any minute. They had a similar sentimental scenario during the exchange of vows then. Call it coincidence, but their birthdays fall on the same date! Whew!

Talk about the most dreaded part during wedding receptions -- it’s the throwing and catching of the bouquet, hahaha! Depending on my mood, but I’m a real party-pooper on that stuff most of the time. When the single ladies are called, people would always see me sneaking at the end of the queue, murag allergy kaayo sa bouquet, hehe!.. While most of the single ladies are dying to grab the bouquet, there was me darting away from it. At times, I would experience the irony of it all – the more I avoided the bouquet, the more it follows after me, hahaha! Then came the million dollar question “Kanus-a man pud ka kaslon?”.. Tsk.. tsk! I dunno! “In His own perfect time” was the best answer I could give.

Just to mention a few of my newly wed friends this year (Meriden, Marie, Shirley, and Lucille), my warm congratulations and best wishes to all of you guys! And to my friends and colleagues who had tied the knot on the previous years and are now happily building a family of their own (Menchu, Kaye, Erliza, Beverly, Pammy, Cristine, Malou, Sharon, Matet, Alele, Venessa, Jennifer, Wyeth, Mayet, Cherry, and Racee), cheers to a happy married life!

Now, I wonder who among my (remaining) single friends is going to march in the aisle next month? Or next year perhaps? Cristina, Colyn, Pinky, Joy, Berna, Lourdes, Ritchie Mae, Fe, Judith, Arbie and Grethel -- what a roll call, hahaha! Ooops, I've just received an email this morning from Teresa saying she's going to tie the knot with Mark next year. Let's just wait and see who's goin' to follow Teresa soon, hehehe!