HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

Today is my Dad's 57th birthday. I just called him and he was with my family and relatives at a restaurant celebrating. I miss that. I miss spending time with family and having special dinners together. I miss our bonding time.

I love my dad. I can't believe he's growing old! I just can NOT believe that. My dad has always been a cheery fellow. He's very upbeat, funny and really fun to be with. When I was younger, I always wondered how he and my mom ended up together because my mom can be serious sometimes. But now, I understand. It's their differences that bind them together. It's their differences that connect them and complement them. I know it's kind of ironic but that's how I see Ruther and myself and our conflicting personalities. I used to think that we were so different but now, I appreciate how unique we are and how we connect as husband and wife. I learned all these through the realization that my parents' relationship lasted this long because they have learned to live and accept each others' differences. My dad is one special guy. Of course he's not perfect but I value everything he taught me while I was growing up and now that I'm my own woman. I will never cease to be his daughter just as he will never cease to be my dad. He has always been there for me and still is there for me despite living away from me. I appreciate that he always finds the time to keep in touch with me, Ruther and the boys. I love that he loves life in his own way.

Here's a little something I made for my dad a few years ago...

My dad is my hero. Seems like an afternoon Q and A portion of a little miss something pageant, right? But it IS true. My dad is my hero. When i was growing up, my dad was a constant presence in my life. We would see each other every morning, at lunchtime and in the evenings. He would insist we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together as a family. None of that eating in your room nonsense (we would really get an earful sometimes). He was not really my tutor (my mom was the teacher in the family) nor was he entirely faultless in my growing up years but still, there are many ways in which i feel closer to my dad than my mom.Daddy is funny, a jokester. Mommy is serious and practical. Daddy can make you feel at ease immediately and after spending 10 minutes with him, he'll make you feel like you've been friends forever. Although he is jovial, my dad can be strict. No hanky-panky, curfew, chaperones and all that. When we would have some late night party at a friend's he would insist on picking us up (no way would he let somebody else bring us home). But my sis, bro and I did not mind. We knew he had our best interests at heart. I could tell my mom anything but when it comes to deeper, more serious stuff, my dad is the best. Somehow he always makes me see sense. My dad did not mind when he would have to buy more pairs of slippers than any other dad because we could use his big slippers for tumbang preso and lose them somehow after the game. He would patiently teach us golf when we would grumble and complain in the hot sun (but later learned to love golf). Golf is my dad's favorite sport. He's crazy about it. I also learned about the value of money from my dad. No, he's not stingy. He just tells us money does not grow on trees and tells us other dad-isms about money. I have always been amazed at his knack for math. No, not the Calculus and Algebra genius type but the everyday math. He's really good at it even if I say so myself.I am proud to say too, that my dad is COOL. Yup! COOL. He loves those hiphop songs now (asks my bro to download MP3s for him), adores gadgets and gizmos, and always checks on the latest trends. And he loves to dance. Yup. I have one cool dad! =) But the most important thing i learned from my dad is the value of FAMILY. He has taught me to be the person I am now by example. My dad is open and very straightforward. He is emphatic and considerate. He is honest and disciplined. He values family above everything else. From him i have learned all these and because of him I have grown so much as a person and have become very consciencious.Ruther is so much like my dad. He is funny and a jokester too. He loves gadgets and updates himself on the latest things. But unlike Dad, Ruther is practical and a perfectionist. I don't mind. But I AM glad Ruther and Daddy share some common things. I love the way they are different and the same. My Dad has been an inspiration to me when i was growing up and now that i HAVE grown up, Ruther is my current inspiration. And now that I have kids, I could still see how much of a dad my Dad is with Nikki and Ethan. He loves them so much, calls them all the time when we're here in Manila and plays with them all the time when we are in Zamboanga. He is patient and doting. Daddy will always be a wonderful dad even when "grand" precedes the "dad". He is just so great! =)Life sure is funny. When you're a little girl you dream of meeting the President of the Philippines or Pope John Paul II but when you're all grown up, you realize that the hero you have been searching for all your life was with you all along. I love you so much, Daddy! Mwah!