Happy Father's Day

A Father's Letter to His Father

by Victor Juliet

The greatest person next to a mother is a father. As a son, I always believed that I am my father's child but I do not have proof of it except I look exactly like him. A lot of my traits, jokes, mannerisms and trivialities are no doubt that of my father I fondly called Tatay. He's the first person whom I considered my friend. We share things any boy or any man find amusing. We play basketball and loves swimming. But until I reached adolescent that I realized how easy to identify one's roots if you really want to know your real parents. What I mean is that I need little proof that I am my mother's child. Simply because I came from her and doctors can attest to that. But again, to a father, well, he needs a lot of explanations simply because he was not the one who gave birth to me.

Now that I am a father myself to two beatiful sons I did realize the importance of my identity. I need to show and say to my sons " Hey, I am your father. Listen and follow me." I thought when they obey me I already impose my presence as their Papa. I was wrong. I now need the learnings from my.own father. Day by day, they begin to look like me and do things exactly like me.

When my sons throw balls at me now and ask to swim with them, I see my old self - the son playing around my Tatay's lap while he's reading his newspaper. Sadly, he's no longer here to see his beautiful legacy and tha'ts enough proof, Tatay. Happy Father's Day!