'I miss my father so much'

Gener, reading your story made me wept...Wept so much that I could not stop because I miss my father so much. He passed 10 years ago…and up until now, I would always miss him. I would always say, "Sana Ka Ruben, you were here to share ang mga blessing na ibinigay sa amin ni Lord." I would call him ‘Ka Ruben.’ It was a tawagan that we grew up calling him. In the early 80's, he went to Saudi Arabia to be a trailer driver. He got jailed once, had his shares of homesickness and up and downs in life. He lost the house he loved dearly because of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. Some of his kids did not gain a college diploma, and nearly broke his marriage with my mom. Eighteen years, 18 long years he had endured all those years and finally, he needed to stop in 1995 because he had a stroke and finally settled down with us. I remember vividly there was this one day in his life before he died; he saw us (his children) running around the house and playing (our ages from 23 - 30) - he said: "Mga anak, napakaraming taon pala yung nasayang ko at hindi ko koya nakita kung paano kayo lumaki. Ganyan ba kayo kasaya palagi pagka-magkakasama kayo?"

We were all sitting in the porch (panganay lang po namin ang wala), and we all said "Yes, Tang!" We even have our own reunion days among magkakapatid lang to bond (hindi po kasama mga asawa namin). He was teary eyed and he told us how much he always miss us during all those years na ‘di n’ya kami kasama. On the eve of his death, it was me, him and mama in the sala, we were watching McGyver. He was having his one or two shot of whiskey. He told me, "Mendang, ikukuha kitang beer ha, siguro try mo konti-konti tuwing gabi baka sakaling tumaba ka." I said, "Sige, Tang, try ko, sabayan kita." And so I had a few. And then he said, "Mendang, please play the piano for me, yung theme song namin ng mama mo (Unchained Melody), saka pati na rin yung "I don't know How to Love Him" (eto po yung song sa Jesus Christ Superstar). I said, "Sige Tang, pero kakabisahin ko lang konti ulit ha?" And I played those two pieces with feelings. He was sitting and watching me and when I finished he said, "Thank you Mendang! Sige na pahinga ka na kasi may work kapa bukas. Lalabas lang ako sa terrace." And I said, goodnight, Tang!" That night, December 10, 2000, on the eve of my daughter's birthday and two days before my birthday, yun ang mga last na lambing ni Ka Ruben sa akin. After just 30 minutes of that conversation, my mother shouted and asked for my help because Ka Ruben fell on his chair. We are proud to say na, noong buhay pa si Ka Ruben, we made his last years of life FULL. Pero feeling ko parang kulang pa rin; parang gusto pa naming mahigitan ang pagmamahal na yon, parang kulang pa yung ginawa namin. Sana nandito pa siya to see how we have grown further. And then just last week, a relative, Ka Ruben's cousin was on line with me thru Facebook. He told me, "You know what, when you're dad was still alive wala siyang bukang-bibig kundi kayong magkakapatid lalo na ikaw. Ikaw daw ang magdadala ng pamilya at lagi mo raw pananatilihing masaya kayong magkakapatid." I cried again. It's so good to hear words like that coming from Ka Ruben. Kahit wala na si Ka Ruben, we would always refer to him as Ka Ruben as if nandiyan lang siya lagi sa tabi namin. Ngayon, bumabawi na lang kami sa aming mahal na Ina…si Ka Janet. To Ka Ruben and to all the fathers, Happy Father’s Day. To all us children, let us treat our parents as if it's their last day with us. Never miss an opportunity to kiss them, tell them we love them and tell them how great their sacrifices are for us. Never ever forget where our roots came from. - GMANews.TV Jade Anjela Crawford Basahin ang kwento ni Gener: Hampas ng pagmamahal ni Itay Kamusta mga Kapuso! Sana’y hindi kayo magsawa sa pagtangkilik sa ating pitak na ito. Habang may mga kababayan tayo sa abroad - pati ang kanilang mga kabiyak, anak, ina, ama o sinuman na kabahagi ng kanilang buhay - na nais magpaabot ng kanilang saloobin mananatili po ang inyong Kwentong Kapuso. Katulad ng dati, hindi kami magsasawa na basahin ang inyong mga kuwento - maigsi man o mahaba. Kahit na ang laman nito ay naglalabas ng sama ng loob, nagbibigay ng inspirasyon, gustong magpayo, magsumbong, magpatawa o kahit nagpapalipas lang ng oras. Kaya hihintayin namin ang inyong mga email na maaari ninyo itong ipadala sa Pinoyabroad@gmanews.tv Sa mga kababayan namin saan mang dako ng mundo, saludo po kami sa inyo. Mabuhay kayo mga masigasig naming Kapuso sa abroad!