I recently guested on QTV’s, “The Sweet Life” which is hosted by Lucy Torres-Gomez.  And if you were paying attention to my blog a few weeks back, you’d know that this is already my second appearance on that particular show.  The first one was when I came out with my little daughter and, frankly, she had most of the exposure then.  Haha!

This time around, I was invited to be part of German “Kuya Germs” Moreno’s surprise birthday celebration.  Kuya Germs’ 75th birthday is still on October, but the program was doing a series of advanced tapings and the “tribute” was one of them.

I was asked to bring a card for Kuya Germs, but I thought a birthday card too simple… too… ummm… common.  So, I decided to give him a personalized CD of all my recent compositions with a birthday message written on the side of the disc.  Why a disc filled with compositions, you ask?  Well, mainly because I never really would’ve realized my interest in music long ago had it not been for his show that I was a regular of:  “That’s Entertainment”.

That was where I actually honed my talent as a musician… I even, for a time, became a musical arranger for his weekly Sunday television program, “GMA Supershow”.

Anyways, I was called in on stage to surprise him and to share with televiewers some good memories I’ve had of Kuya Germs.

So, I went in… exchanged pleasantries and went on to present my “token”.  Before I handed the gift, I explained on-air why I opted to bring that particular present.  Then I continued to read the small message out loud in front of him (the text was small and considering his age, I was afraid to strain his eyes…)

The message read:

Kuya Germs, maraming salamat sa lahat ng tulong at aral na ibinahagi ninyo sa akin.  Kung ano ako ngayon… kung ano ang aking naabot… at kung ano pa ang aking mararating… malaking bahagi nito ay dahil sa inyo.

Mahal ko po kayo.

Maligayang Kaarawan po.

- Chuckie Dreyfus

And as I looked up at him to hand it over, he took it and wanted to speak to the mic… but he couldn’t.  His eyes were welling up.  He tried to speak but got choked up… he stopped and looked down… sobbing… silent.  I thought we were gonna cut.  But we continued to roll… silence all around… only his sniffing could be heard.

Then, short of breath… he spoke.  He told everyone how much he was proud of me… he gripped my hand so tight and still continued to choke up in tears.  I didn’t actually think I’d make that kind of an impact on him during that taping.  I had never made him cry like “that”… I mean, by myself… yet I did.

I cannot fully put into words how I truly felt during those minutes… But as much as I knew that the show’s episode was done for him… to pay tribute to his accomplishments in the industry… a celebration of his life… and in recognition of his importance in showbusiness… during that particular moment, it was I who felt important… and that everything I have achieved was all that mattered to him.

Happy birthday, Kuya Germs.

Thank you for everything… God bless you always…