papa's 65th birthday

my father celebrated his 65th birthday yesterday, april 16 2007. my dear sister, aiza, requested me to post his pictures here in my blog. i missed the yummy lechon they prepared last night. aiza said that papa insisted that he's still 64, and complained why the candles are for 65. whenever someone asks him how old he is, he always answer 64. i guess he already stopped counting last year, huh.

i called papa yesterday, around lunchtime to greet him. but actually, i also wanted to check if he received my gift. i ordered from filgifts.com an SM card, pre-loaded with 2k. it's kind of a gift certificate, but it's also re-loadable. i couldn't give him flowers, so i tried to search for other things to give. i wanted to give some kind of cake or pastries, but they need about 2weeks of lead-time. so, i ended up giving the gc. anyway, he didn't thank me right away, so i thought maybe it didn't arrive yet. then, he suddenly said he received an lbc package around 8am. i asked where it is from, he said from me. haha he said he didn't open it yet because he was very busy. i told him to open it and he did right then and said thanks (although he still wasn't sure how he can use it. haha). i called again last time, and talked to my mother, too. when i called, they were waiting for papa to show up, already hungry.

i wish my father lots of blessings. may he still have a long life ahead of him. may he be more relaxed and happy.

i've always admired my father. he's the 2nd of 7 children, and the eldest son. he's always supported my grandparents. i forgot at what age, he went with my grandfather's step-brother, selling pillows & blankets. they reached cebu, he studied there. but, for some reasons, he didn't finish his mechanical engineering (sakto ba?) course [sayop daw. it's civil engineering]. he met my mother there, got married in 1972, relocated to cagayan de oro(cdo), and raised the 3 of us there. my father opened a sari-sari store in cdo. it was our only means of living. the earnings weren't great. the store started small. but, through my father's hard work, we were able to go to an exclusive girls' school (now co-ed) in elementary & high school. in college, we went to the best university in the city. and, our only source of income was the sari-sari store. so, i am so grateful to my father for bringing us up the way he did.

again, all the best to papa. belated happy birthday, and thanks for everything.

here are some pictures...