Father’s Day

I don’t really have the best father in the world.

He has always been struggling against his addiction to gambling. When I was only 5 years old, mother used to ask me to go to our neighbor (where Papa used to play mah-jhong) and tell my father to go home. Papa would give me a five-peso bill and tell me to go home.

I could not remember at what age I stopped going to Papa’s mah-jhong place, but I could still remember when he and Mama got into a huge fight that Mama took a handful of sleeping pills. I was so scared at that time, I thought our family was falling apart and I might lose my mother. Thank God, nothing bad happened to Mama and they were able to fix things.

When I had my debut, Papa took a vow never to gamble again – in front of our family and friends. Yeah, he was true to his promise – for a week, I think. Then he went back to gambling again.

Just two weeks before this year’s Father’s Day, I woke up to the sound of my cellphone’s message tone and was glad when I saw that the message was from my Papa. But my heart sank when I read his message. He wanted to borrow 5 thousand so he could pay some of his debts and household monthly dues. I sent three full messages through Chikka nagging my father for being so irresponsible. Papa never replied to any of my messages.

The following day, I was so bothered and guilty for hurting my father and decided to text him and tell him that I am sending 2 thousand to him. He replied and said thank you, and that he will pay me when he receives his salary. I really didn’t expect that he’ll pay me and just said I love him.

A week before Father’s day, Papa texted me and told me that he’s paying his debt already. I said he doesn’t have to and to think of it as my Father’s Day gift to him. He said thank you.

On Father’s Day, I texted Papa and told him how much I love him. He told me to have lunch with them because he’s cooking “alimango” (crabs) – an impossible thing, because I live nine hours away from them! I just told him I’ll taste his cooking soon, when I go home. Papa just replied saying, “Cge, pagtext lang daan kanus a ka mouli kay magluto ko daan.” Awww… it really touched my heart.

Yes, I don’t have the best father in the world, but I love him anyway. =)