Life, Take 2

What memories do you have when the word “Dad” or “Papa” is mentioned?

In my case, it has been 5 years since my Dad passed away in 2001. But this month, as we remember his birthday (Nov. 18), I want to capture my past memories of a Dad who was not the touchy-feely type, but whose love I always felt and will always remember.

– he was the top candidate for “Dad of the Year” Award when I was in SGV. After all, what Dad was willing to stay up till 1AM night after night, killing mosquitoes in the car, while his daughter did her audit work at the client’s office?

– he was a top haggler if I ever saw one. He can really act the part of the disinterested buyer who pretends to walk away until the tindera calls him back and agrees to the price he is asking. He was so good at this, he would even try it out in malls (have you heard of anyone haggling in a mall????), to the embarrassment of the rest of us, hahaha.

– he loved sales and bargains. Once, he came home with several bunches of banana (saba). When we told him these were too much for all of us to consume, he just shrugged and said “kay barato eh (It was cheap, eh)”.

– one of his favorite places was a rocking chair. He’d plop down on it, open the TV, then fall right to sleep in front of the boob tube. But beware the person who tries to save on electricity by turning the TV set off. We tried it several times and he’d wake up insisting we turn it back on “…because I am watching!!!” Guess he had Superman’s X-ray eyes, after all!

– every time I have a chance to watch Ben Hur during the Holy Week, I will never forget Dad. This was his penultimate favorite Holy Week movie. Funny thing is, every time we tried to change channel to see other shows, he’d insist on watching Ben Hur because he claims he had not seen it all yet. We were almost tempted to go looking for the DVD of Ben Hur so he could watch that show a 100 times!

– we took our first transPacific flight together when he took me to the States. We went everywhere — SF, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York. It was a great time for father-daughter bonding. And Dad was so at home with relatives he had not seen for a while. Among strangers, he would adopt a formal face; but with family and close friends, Dad would metamorphose into a “Joker” and crack us all up.

– Dad’s “pulbos” (his version of the Chinese mahu), taught to him by my grandmother, who learned it from her Chinese father, was THE BEST! With all the love, and arm muscles, and sweat (I should add), we’d see him cooking the pork bits himself in a wok, adding Kikkoman a little at a time. The finished product was carefully scooped into several bottles and given out to each of us on special occasions. We’d eat these sparingly, trying to stretch it to the max. I don’t think any other appetizer comes close to “pulbos”, not even calamares or buttered mushrooms.

– he should have been called “The Ultimate OC” (obsessive-compulsive) because everything he kept (medical bills, utility statements, bank accounts, legal documents, letters, etc) was neatly filed away in folders appropriately marked and alphabetically sequenced. He had his own filing cabinet right beside his bed! Now you know whose OC genes I inherited 🙂

– to his 11 other siblings (yes, they were a good dozen…from just 1 mother!) he was Ben or Nong Ben. And what a good Manong he was too. Being the only accountant in the family, he took care of much of the family’s paperwork needed for taxes, property transfers, BIR filings, etc. It was a bane and a boon. We all felt lost when he passed away and it took some time for many of his siblings to take over from where he left off.

Dad, just want to say again that I do miss you — we all do. But you have left us all with wonderful memories of you that we will always treasure. Happy birthday in heaven among the angels. I am sure you are cracking them up there as well.