I remembered my Dad. We had a manual water pump in the house that he used as an exercise tool to keep fit. He also filled the steel tank with water which supplied the house. I also remember that he keeps a vegetable garden in the backyard. He plants kamoteng kahoy and banana. My dad was a doctor and he kept clinic hours until the evening. He died at 76. His first stroke happened at 52. I was in high school. He recovered then. He died May 10 2003 a year after suffering another stroke.
A school mate mentioned and he uniquely remembered that his brothers were circumcised by one Dr Delfin M Roque. I'm sure they were. My father served the community well. We would miss him every Media Noche (New Year's Eve Meal) because that's when all the fireworks casualties come in. When I invited him to be a medical resource person for a symposium on drug abuse at school, he went. He was in the roster of Filipino World War II veterans. He was 15 when the war broke out. They have water buffaloes which he rides to the river to wash. His task is primarily taking the herd of water buffaloes to pull carts of rice sacks to former soldiers engaged in guerrilla warfare against the Japanese. That's how he tells it to his son. I asked him about the old scars on his feet. He answered with one word - shrapnel.
They have to sell land to afford his education. He's the only one to finish college. My grand parents died when he was young. He met my mother in 1965 and they were married the next year. I was the oldest of four siblings. He didn't spare the rod. He read the Bible especially in the latter years. He brought us to church on Sundays and I realize this now that it was him and not mother. My mother supported such activities because it brought us closer to the town where we live. He liked to read all sorts of stuff. He was very interested in our schooling.
I offered candles and flowers at my father's plot today. My mom's too frail to come and my siblings live abroad. Imelda was the youngest.
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