Father's Day (is still happy)

It was Father's Day, a very special day for me and my siblings.

I rushed all the way from my dormitory to our humble house, bought a cake to remind my dad that it's his special day. Our home seems so different, it was unusually quite. I entered the house and saw my father still asleep. Went up to my room to check my mom, she was crying, asking me not to go back to my dorm anymore. I asked her why?  ---- around 2 in the morning, that same day, she was almost tortured by my own father. Details of what happened, up until now, is still difficult to recount.

It was the most devastating day of my life. The day when we all decided to take a very challenging path away from my father.

Three years after the incident, I found myself in the middle of an amazing grace of strength and love. Despite the unfortunate event, I saw how true love surpassed all the pain, anguish and uncertainty. Love drove us, in a very special way, to accept and outmatch hatred and anger.

My dad still lives with us. He exerted effort not to drink nor smoke. Tried his best to control his temper. He's also now looking for a decent job. My mom is working double time. After breaking up with my dad, she now takes care of everything. At first, it was difficult for both of them to handle their mutual decision to still live under one roof. They believe that this will help us, kids, to understand their decision. As the eldest son, I need to help both of them.

Today is Father's Day, my mom decided to go to the parlor. For the past three years, I saw how she braved the odds of being a single mom to four kids. Time is never an issue to her, she can multi-task and could do even the simplest task in the house. She just loves being a hands-on mom. To see her go against the trauma of domestic violence is a blessing. I never thought that behind her fragile body is a brave and tough spirit.



(di pa tapos)