Father’s Day 2016 came and I greeted Pao for his second year of being a #1007dad. I also drafted something for my own dad, which I’m finally able to put together today. Let me break down this post into two: I’ll introduce you to my dad, and I’ll share a couple of secrets probably only Pao knows until now.

Last year, I published a post about the beauty of moms in my old blog and gave away some freebies there. I had to take that blog site down so that I can focus on this one instead. Hmmm, maybe one day I can give away freebies here too! I republished that post here.

Father’s Day 2016 came and I greeted Pao for his second year of being a #1007dad. He was a dad for 10 hours and 7 minutes. You can read more about our daughter and our journey in this list of posts. I also drafted something for my own dad, which I’m finally able to put together today, a buzzer beater for this month to honor fathers. Let me break down this post into two: I’ll introduce you to my dad, and I’ll share a couple of secrets probably only Pao knows until now.

My Dad 101

As far back as I can remember, my dad has always provided me with wise counsel, yet given me room to make my own decisions. I remember a specific instance 6 years ago when I was at the brink of maybe the 3rd biggest crossroad in my life (not in chronological order, it’s next to surrendering my life to Christ and saying yes to marrying Pao). He asked the right questions, gave me facts, and then after all of that he told me, “Ikaw, choice mo yan. Pero kami nandito kami to give you advice and to support you kung ano man ang decision mo.” It would have been really hard for him to say this knowing his personal preference on the matter, but he chose to be objective and left the decision to me.

He’s a father who tries to manage the tension between discipline and mercy, and between training us to face the real world and generosity. He can be easily misunderstood as unpredictable because of that, but all of it is out of love, wanting nothing but the best for us.

On a side note, I remember the time we grieved the loss of Brei. It must’ve broken God’s heart seeing us in so much pain. He is a father, and while He allowed it to happen, I am certain that He wants nothing but the best for Pao and I, and even Brei. God can get misunderstood too, I guess. If you are grieving, from a mom who lost her first child, let me say that it does get better. You can read more about it here.

He’s the first person who taught me not to put all my eggs in one basket, that “income – savings = what I can spend” (and not “income – expenses = savings”), and that 100% savings is better than 70% off (although the Holy Spirit is still growing the fruit of self-control in me! Click here to read more about gifts being given and fruits being grown).

He’s always at the brink of giving up on coordinating, planning, and executing family vacations because either Pao and I have work, my brother has kids to consider, or the dearest bunso is ever so busy, yet he manages to bring us all together more than once a year.

My dad protected us from the stress and all of his work. He stood up for what is right even when it meant a shift in a thriving career that he worked from the ranks for. He helps so many people, even some who ended up trying to take advantage of him. He continues to help so many people today.

One of my favorite things about him is that he remembers the date of various milestones of so many people! All dates! Some I don’t even remember until he sends me a message! From my birthday to Pao’s birthday (birthday ng buong barangay actually), wedding anniversary, date when Pao proposed to me, even my 1st day of employment! And not only does he remember, he goes out of his way to send his greetings.

There’s still so much to say, but let me end here so I can now jump to sharing my secrets.

Spilling the Secrets… an Open Letter

It’s not a secret that I love my dad, but there are two things I’ve never really mentioned to him until now. So, here goes…

Hi Daddy!

This should have made it to Father’s Day but there were some words I couldn’t figure out until today. I know you love surprising people, which has made me wonder if you want to be surprised yourself like for your birthday or something. So… surprise! Hehehe. Two secrets I’m sharing to you and to everyone else today.

When I was in grade 4, for no reason at all during a break, I found myself with my head resting on my arm on my desk, thinking of you dying or going away. I don’t know what triggered the thought! I was crying so hard! And because it was during a break, I had to calm myself down and pretend that I was just sleeping!

Second secret… you know that song you always sing? “Tatanda at lilipas din ako…” I would always try so so hard not to cry whenever you sing it. I would discreetly wipe my tears off every single time (now I’m tearing up as I write this… hay).

So, there. All this to say I love you and that you should take care of yourself (you know what I specifically mean by this!) because we want our future kids to spend lots of time with their lolo! ?  Also, continue to be patient with all of us… ask God for grace because I know it’s really tough coordinating different schedules and preferences! God’s grace will help you not to have more white hair… Haha! You and mom take care because you’ll have other grandchildren from us pa.

I am the author of the book, When God Could’ve But He Didn’t. I am the happy wife of my happy husband, Pao. As I write this, both of us are happily hoping for at least two more children. I’m excited that the first paperback edition of my book is going to be available soon!