My condolences go out to Richie Paredes (my guitarist) and his family. I can only imagine how painful it must be to lose a mother. But to part so suddenly… so abruptly… with someone so close to you, just a day after Christmas, is something I cannot even possibly begin to conceive.
Life is so fleeting. You’re here one day… gone the next. I realize how important it is for us to let other people know how much we love them… how we sincerely appreciate their company… and that we recognize everything they have done in our lives. I know now that it isn’t enough that we send gifts… wine… food… as tokens of appreciation.
As sons and daughters… let a day not pass that we might wonder if our parents truly know how we feel towards them. Let us not allow them to doubt our love. Let not gifts and material things be our means of confirmation. Tell them. Tell them now… not when it’s already too late. Remember how, as kids, we used to not be ashamed to say, “I love you”, to our mothers and fathers out loud? Remember how, as toddlers, we enjoyed holding our parents’ hands in public? Remember how our parents’ eyes glowed with joy when we told them that they were our heroes? Let us make them feel the same way… now… and everyday… even as adults. For in our mother and father’s eyes, we will always be the little children they used to hold and cherish.
Yes, of course they know we love them… even during times of differences… but have they heard it from us lately? Don’t write it down in a letter… say it. It may not be something tangible that you could keep in a wallet or a drawer that you could read every now and then, but it’s something they’ll always cherish and treasure in their hearts.
I remember then, when I was tinkering with my dad’s wallet months ago and saw a very old stationery folded up and neatly tucked inside. I opened it up and realized it was an old tattered note I wrote to him when I was just probably 6 years old. It simply said, “I love you very much, Dad!”. He never took it out of his wallet. It made me cry. I knew he loved me… I’m sure he knows I feel the same way but never told him since I was a kid. So the only way he could probably feel being that old hero he used to be in my eyes was by reading that little note I gave him more than 2 decades ago.
As a parent of two kids… now, I finally understand.
As the child gains strength and joy from their parents… so do parents from their children.
You yearn for it… always.
It never goes away.
I love you, Mom. We’ve probably disagreed on so many things but we’ve always been tight. You were my refuge during times of trouble… the comforting words you never failed to say that made me always feel secure and protected.
I love you, Dad… you will always be my hero. You will always be my strength… the one I’ve always looked up to. You were the voice of reason. And though I’ve hurt you countless times… you took it all in… and gave me that unconditional love which, through example, has taught me how to truly adore and cherish my kids and how to love and honor my wife with heart and soul. Thank you.
Have you told your parents lately?
Listen to the way people malign chocolate: Sinful! Decadent! To die for! There’s even that popular restaurant dessert known as “Death by Chocolate.” But is this any way to talk about a loved one — especially during the season of comfort and joy?
Bagong Puna