Gabay at Pasasalamat

”Ang mga anak kong ito ang gagabay sa aming pagtanda”.

Thus says my Dad to his brothers while brushing his fingers through my thin brown hair. They were having one of their rare San-Mig session that week-end afternoon. It never made any sense to me though. I was about 7 years old then and all I care about was sitting with them, not to drink, but to eat the delicious pulutan our Mom cooked for them.

Now I am 34 years old, married and with a 2 year old son. Our Dad is 60 years old and our Mom is 2 years older than he is. We were a brood of 4 boys and undoubtedly were a handful during our growing years. It was never easy for our dad and mom during those trying times.

Early on in their marriage, they retired from their low salaried teaching jobs to try the business world.They tried making bags for local distribution for a while until the market was saturated.They tried the wooden furniture assembly and selling them until the sales became low.They managed to save and buy a store in the town market where they started their school supplies biz and it was good for a while.After some time, they included some children clothes and groceries on their retail to be more competitive.My father, realizing that the income was not stable enough, decided to go back to employment.Dad worked under the government’s Human Settlement ministry and NABCOR and worked his way up on the corporate ladder.He was already the procurement manager at the time his boss made a juicy once-in-a-lifetime offer to him to sign a dubious contract in exchange for VP promotion and monetary commissions.

He filed for his resignation instead.

He went back to his business ventures. He was into home-delivery of fresh fishes at one time until most customers have outstanding credits that the daily net was not enough for the next procurement.Then both Dad and Mom jumped into the real estate boom, which was short-lived.The catering and canteen business looked promising so they actively pursued it. This was by far the most financially rewarding one but was taking the toll on their not-getting-any-younger bodies. The 16-hour demand was too much but they know that they cannot let go of this business. My brothers and I were well into our respective colleges that time.

Needless to say, their diversified business ventures were never an excuse for them to forestall their services to our Lord. From the birth of renewal movements in the early 80?s and until now, they are actively involved in many church activities and organizations. Add the fact that our parents were always present in all our school programs and meetings. So I cannot help but wonder how they were able to squeeze more free time for our family outings, get-togethers and homework huddle.

All of their hard-work and perseverance paid off after all these years.We did not become rich but we were never in need. And all 4 of us were able to finish our college studies and pursue our own individual careers. All my brothers and I each have our own families.

Our Dad is now 60 years old and our Mom is 62 years old.They both have high blood pressure and are both diabetic but they still tend to their small sari-sari store in front of our house. They are doing this to keep themselves active, albeit not to earn money anymore.

I am now 34 years old and my Dad’s words years ago have not really sunk into me yet. I know it will come and I pray to God that all of us their children can be as loving and persevering to them during their sunset years as they were to us during our growing years.

”Salamat po, Dad and Mom, sa pag-gabay po ninyo sa aming paglaki”.
”Salamat po, Panginoon, sa magulang na inyong ipinagkaloob po sa amin”.