To the man we never met

To the man we never met,

There are so many things we wanted to ask you. So many things we never got the chance to. We’ve read the stories, seen the videos, and heard the speeches. Oh god, the speeches. How we wish we could have been there. We missed a lot. We missed seeing one of the greatest public servants ever. We missed seeing a hero inspire a nation. But most of all, we missed a lolo.

There are so many things we wanted to ask you. So many things we wish you could have taught us. How did you make the greatest woman ever fall in love with you? What are the secrets to getting the woman of your dreams? How did you get Amorsolo to paint a portrait of our lola? What was it like finding your soul mate?

How was it like raising such wonderful children? How did you manage to raise such an amazing daughter in Ballsy? Seriously, she’s the best. Did you think your children would end up where they are? What was the best part about being a father?

Were you afraid when they sent you to jail? What was your first night in Laur like? Were you angry of what they were doing? And how they took you away from your family? How they made you think you’ve lost? How were you able to cope? Where did you get the strength?

What was Boston like? We wish we could’ve been there with you. We wish you could’ve told us stories about Larry Bird and his Celtics. We wish you could’ve told us stories of your time as a fellow in Harvard. We wish you could’ve brought us there one summer vacation. We wish you could’ve seen Boston win again.

We wish you could’ve given us the books you loved the most. Led us to your favorite authors. Told us to watch your favorite movies and listen to your favorite music. Maybe even taught us how to write like you did. Taught us how to write a good speech. Told us what you think of our column.

Glasses family: Ninoy Aquino, the man the authors wish they met.

We wish you could’ve set us straight when we’d do wrong. Picked us up when we couldn’t get ourselves back up. Inspired us to do better by simply giving us a hug. Maybe even comfort us that it’s all going to work out in the end. Say that you’d always be here if we ever needed help.

We wish you could’ve been there for Mom’s birthday last weekend. We wish we could’ve seen you give her a hug and tell her how proud of her you are. She had a good birthday. All your kids and grandkids were there. We had our family photo. We wish you could’ve been there, you and Lola.

We wish we could say thank you. Not only for the obvious things like leaving us with a good name but also for the little things. The things we’ll never get to have. Thank you for treating us out to lunch that random Sunday. Thank you for taking care of us when our parents were abroad. Thank you for giving us your old pair of glasses. Thank you for introducing us to The Beatles. Thank you for coming to our graduation. Thank you for bringing us to Boston. Thank you for being nice and reading our column. Thank you for being a great lolo.

We can’t wait to meet you.