Meet Senen... Happy Birthday Papa.

So it's still February. I've been really good making this month more joyous... and I am grateful for every single day of it. Today is my Papa's birthday. And again, in my effort to choose joy, here are some stories, memories, facts about my Papa. But first here are some pictures, don't i look a lot like him?  

This was during the 70's.

He loved to sing...with feelings...:D

With my cousin Bo. He was a great host to our visiting family and friends.

~ His name was Senen. I have never met anyone with that name ever. Have you?

~ Today is his birthday and he would've been 77 years young.

~ I was his favorite. Because I look a lot like him :) (this is my blog :D)

~ He was a hardworking man. He started working when he was a kid selling cigarettes in the streets of Manila.

~ He was once a cop. I barely remember that part but I do remember him in his brown police uniform. It was only for a short period of time. 

~ He liked karaoke. He would sing to my mom and to us. It was funny.

~ I would watch him clean his guns. It made him look really tough.

~ He was a man with a few words. He rarely got mad at us, but when he did, I was always terrified. 

~ He was a great cook. He cooked with passion. 

~ He would always try to give us what we want and need. And for me, it's always a surprise. 

~ I was once into playing the guitar, so one day he surprised me with my own guitar with my name embossed on the body. I was so happy! I still remember the feeling till now.

~ When I was in a volleyball team, he surprised me with new shoes (i think it was Nike Air, at that time it was a big deal). He knew I needed new ones.

~ I love the beginning of school year, because it means new school stuff... he once surprise me with a new Benetton school bag he had bought at Duty Free. I was super excited. I used that bag until it was trashed. I was sad when I had to give it up.

~ He was a custom inspector. He looked really good in his all white uniform. I always wondered how he was able to keep it clean all day. 

~ He was a neat freak just like me mom.

~ He loved my mom so very much. He was very protective of us girls.

~ He listened to AM radio every single morning.

~ If you haven't noticed yet, he loved surprising us.

~ He worked a LOT. But every summer, we would spend a couple of weeks in the province with his family. They were all so nice to us. It was always something I looked forward to. Because that was the time of the year we get to be with him 24/7.

~ When I was a kid, my only job was to bring him his slippers when he gets home from work. He loved it. I loved it too.

~ He likes hearing me play the piano (mostly Old McDonald...I was really not that into it).

~ I make my Mama coffee in the afternoon, I serve my Papa's drink in the evening. 

~ He was an honest man. A person with integrity. He was once shot on the shin because he caught a group of men shipping illegal stuff. It was scary. We had police watching over us for a few months. We had to move out of town because the group was a part of a mob. It was all over the news and media made my Papa look bad. But that didn't bother him, because he knew he did the right thing. 

~ He was always sick. But I really didn't realize it until I was in high school. He had cancer. It was terrifying. I thought I was going to loose him then. But he kept on working and that made me think that he's alright. He'll be fine. In a weird way that kinda gave me security that he's not going anywhere. Now I know that he was just being tough for our sake.

~ Last years of his life was spent in the hospital. For me, at that time, it was our second home for a couple of years. 

~ We all took care of him. When there was nothing else the doctors can do for him at the hospital, we took him home. It was hard for my Mama. But I remember I would wake up really early to feed him breakfast. I will never forget, once he asked me why that was happening to him. He looked at me in the eyes and cried. At that point I thought any pain I am feeling is NOTHING compared to what he is feeling. He's always supported our family, he was the MAN of the house. It was very important to him. And when he got sick, besides the physical pain he was in, it was also very hard for him to give up on being the man of the house and watch us take care of him. I thought that was more painful for him than anything else. 

I am so proud of him. I am proud to be his daughter. He was a brave man. I always thought that that's how husbands and fathers should be like. I miss him everyday. I miss him more and more everyday. 

Happy birthday Papa.... I love you so very much. 

    

Here's some pictures of my Mama...

My Papa was lucky!

Her beautiful smile.

After writing this blog I now know what I am most grateful for. That is having great parents I look up to. My memories of them are short but it is definitely enough to last a lifetime.