MY FATHER MY MENTOR

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Today could have been the 80th birthday of my father who passed away last 1993 at the age of 59. I miss him terribly and I always reminisce on the good times we had shared together. I'm typically a father's girl. I grew up with him teaching me things about life. I came from a poor family. My father worked as a valet for a rich man and my mother was a laundrywoman.Nevertheless, my parents taught me that poverty isn't a hindrance from being a better person. My mother died when I was 14, thus, I became closer to my father even more. I have three other siblings in our family but the bond between me and "Tatay" has brought jealousy among my brother and two sisters.He loved us all but he focused on me because I'm the eldest. I realize now that those bonding moments were not because he favored me but rather prepared me for the event of losing both of them which eventually happened. He was my first teacher, he'll buy books from second hand bookstores and ask me to read everything. I remember reading the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin at the age of eight. Literary classics, philosophy books, novels, anything he can get his hands on, he'll hand it out for me to read and later we'll talk about it. It dawned on me the fact that he did not finish elementary school (he was born during the American occupation) so he wanted me to reach the education he missed. Aside from academics he taught me a lot about life in general. Here are some of them: 1. Never stop learning.Life is a continuous battle.What you lack in strength, make up for it with a strong mind. 2. Don't be intimidated with people from higher positions or status. Instead, befriend them ,learn from them. 3. Respect others if you want others to respect you. 4. Do not waste your time on useless arguments.Walk away. 5. Do not make the same mistake twice. 6. Enjoy life. To you, Tatay, wherever you are, I hope I'm making you proud.