A Father's love.

I picked up my father from Reno-Tahoe International Airport yesterday with my mother. My two older sisters were also there. It was about 88 degrees Fahrenheit. My father was in his usual cranky, irritable (bugnutin) and quick to anger (mabilis sa galit) self. That was the father I knew growing up, but there was always something more to him than that. Something that my eyes neglected to see during my adolescent years.

I wrote this blog because I was thinking about my father's health and well-being. My father turned 67 this past June 2011 and as I picked him up from the airport, I noticed that he had a dry, unproductive cough and was lethargic. He just came back from a three week trip from the Philippines. I dropped him home and I went about my business for the night. I came back home and at about 12:30am my Dad came outside his room and asked me if I could give him a massage. As I rubbed and massaged vicks vaporub on his deltoids, triceps, trapezii, neck muscles, quads, lower back muscles (sacral region), and knee joints, I could not help but wonder how rigid, rough, and overworked his muscles and joints were. My father's condition was beyond wear and tear. I never knew how bad my father had rheumatoid arthritis.

My father worked hard all throughout his life. Despite trials and setbacks, he was the only member out of his siblings that graduated high school and earned a college degree. When he started a family, he moved abroad to Saudi Arabia and worked as an accountant. Pre-Gulf War, he moved to the United States and worked as an accountant for awhile. After less than a year, the only work he found was for a security guard position. The job had horrible hours and terrible pay, but my father never complained. My father was cranky, irritable (bugnutin) and quick to anger (mabilis sa galit), but he had reason to. He provided for his family of seven the basic necessities of food and shelter. His love came in a different way.

 

Simply put, I LOVE you Dad!