Father's Day

What a tough month it would be to celebrate "Father's Day" come the 15th, this year! My father passed away back in December of 2007. Long ago, how easy it was for me to call him on the phone. Despite the many miles between us, we just shared a lot of good talks only a father and his child could have. His health went down really fast, after being diagnosed with colon cancer. Up to this day, I'm really grateful that my brothers and I had the chance to be by his side as he laid on his bed before he passed away. Every minute of each of those days felt like a lifetime's worth of catching up with good mem'ries we lost as we lived our lives in different places of this world. Despite the pain and that predicament he was in, he kept joking around and he wanted to be remembered by everyone that instead of us crying and feeling down, he wanted people to know that he died happy, same with his family and all the people he cared about. He didn't want it to end with mourning, but with celebration of life and joy despite the pain!

I wanted to be strong for him because I knew how much pain he was in even though he wasn't complaining and wasn't able to nourish his body anymore. I recalled every fun mem'ry we all had shared together with our mother when she was alive. What a great feeling to see my father's big smile knowing how much energy he must have used just to do that! The heck with my not so nice voice, I sang with my other brother as I strummed the guitar and he liked that. I would often lay down next to him and asked him to hug me, until the last one was going to be the "last one" for real. Lots of people flocked to his room to pay their visit and prayed for him. They came crying when they saw how fragile he looked but when they left, they were all laughing with tears, their broken hearts replaced by the good spirit my father had shown them through his jokes. Much later, as I figured things out, it wasn't me who kept my father strong. It was the other way around...He was the one who kept me and the others strong. He remained in good spirits and I believe up to this day, it was his deep faith in God that made him survive this hardest trial.

Yes, my father may not be here this Father's Day, but we have a spiritual Father Who is always there for us, going through our tough times. From 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort."

Happy Father's Day to all of you, dads out there!