My dad’s last Father’s Day

MANILA, Philippines - It was 2008. Two days before Father’s Day, my dad was unusually excited. In the past years, we (my mom, sister and I) were the ones who would remind him about it and plan the family dinner. However, that particular year he was different. He asked me and my mom if we were going to eat out since Father’s Day was coming soon. Although it was still two days before the big day, he insisted that we eat at his favorite Italian Restaurant. Seeing his persistence, my mom and I agreed to it anyway.

On the table, at the restaurant, I could see how happy my dad was. I remember him saying proudly, “It’s Father’s Day” and then smiling. My mom and I were, of course, delighted to see his reaction. We enjoyed the rest of the night talking before getting home safely.

Father’s Day came. That day I joined an exhibition held at a shopping mall in Mandaluyong. For this reason, the attention was switched more on the exhibition than the day being with my dad. But that wasn’t a big deal to my dad. To him, he was very happy and proud that my creation was included. The day went well; we were all tired — now, thinking back, I can’t even remember if I greeted my dad.

Four days after, the dreaded day came. As usual, we all started our day early. We all helped in taking care of our family business which was food catering. My father helped in managing and delivering food. He would take the closer route while the driver took the farther one. My dad was a diabetic and because of it, his eyesight was not well. He had a stroke a few years back. But all these didn’t stop him from working or doing any activities. He had his own small business (which used to be big) but it wasn’t earning much so he would concentrate more on our catering business.

That day, by lunchtime, everybody was already home. My dad kept on calling me and my mom for lunch. I was busy upstairs while my mom was in the office doing some work. All we told him was, “Later, you can go ahead and have lunch already.” And so my dad ate lunch by himself. In the afternoon, it rained so hard and there was a leak in our ceiling. My dad tried to fix it and got so wet since he needed to go up to the balcony to do it. I could see that he was exhausted. He went out to buy some food and had a snack. That day I needed to deliver some stuff. He offered to drive me there since it was on the way to where he was going.

After doing my stuff, we went to his customer to collect some money. I didn’t go in with him. I went to a computer shop next to the customer’s factory. After a while, I was walking back towards our car, and I saw my dad come out with the company boss. Something was wrong. My dad was walking very slowly and the company boss was guiding him while walking. When I asked what was wrong, all my dad could say was, “This is nothing. Let’s go.”

Before he could settle on the driver’s seat, he stopped. I tried to touch his arms. It was very cold. I knew there was something wrong. I told the company boss to call his driver to drive us to the hospital. All the while, his eyes were just closed and he seems to be in delusion. I heard him say things about my mom and my mom’s business. He seemed worried. I told him not to worry about anything and just think about himself at that moment. I called my mom and told her to meet us at the hospital.

While lying down, my dad reached out to his pocket and took out the money he had collected earlier that day. He told my mom, “Use this for the hospital bill.” My mom just cried and so did I.

Then I saw that one side of my dad’s face was slowly distorting. I asked him if he was the one doing it, he said no; he held my hand tightly — I knew he was scared. 

My dad fell into a coma. The doctor said that we should decide if we would turn off the life support or not. He passed away on June 22, 2008.

Yes, it has been five years, but whenever I recall the sequence of events, I tear up. I regretted not having joined him for lunch that day when he was calling us. I could have thanked him for being such a supportive dad. No wonder he was so excited that Father’s Day. It was his last Father’s Day.

(Editor’s note: The author is a regular contributor to this section. She was discovered in My Favorite Movie broken column. She’s now based in China, working as an English teacher.)