Dadee's Chair

Come And Sit A Spell

I fondly remember my quirky Dad this Father's Day.

The soul in repose grows wiser. - Mark Mills

Let me start off this story with the general fact that my father was amazing. 

Not like a little amazing. A lot amazing.

Definitely a 10 on a scale of 1-10.

He let me go with him to his office at Erlanger and eat egg pie afterward before we headed home.

He never told me I was too young to pursue my ambitions. He was my steady rock who wholeheartedly went with me when I was thirteen to audition as radio announcer for Student Canteen.

I'd always wanted to be a journalist. He was my advocate and companion when at fourteen, I presented a feature article to Manila Times editor Bunao for critique.

All my life, I'd seen him win people with his charm, his bottomless optimism. When he said serious things like, The only way to achieve something magical was through work and discipline, people around him listened.

But sometimes, he struck me as remarkable...  in the weirdest way.

Like I couldn't figure out the equation of work and discipline with his lounging in a chair while staring at the ceiling and the few dusty cobwebs hanging in the corner of the living room.

So on that day, he sat, lost in thought. 

Still as a statue, almost as though he had been frozen. 

His eyelids slowly slid halfway down over his eyes as he pondered. 

Then I saw him squeeze his eyes shut for a few seconds, trying to concentrate, mumbling under his breath. What thoughts, like butterflies, were darting through his mind?

I paused and looked at him and then looked again and then tilted my head to the side and wrinkled my nose and stared at him sideways, biting my lip in concentration. What was he up to?

Teasingly, I poked into his ribcase, intruding upon his quietude with a rattling, Intong! Little Boy! (for that was what I called him when no one was around). Tulog ka ba? Are you sleeping?

It sounded, peculiarly, like a genuine question.

He blinked looking like a man who had awakened from a deep sleep with no idea where he was. He looked at me with raised eyebrows, rolling his eyes with theatrical exaggeration. He thought for a moment and appeared to choose his words with care. 

Can't you see? He said, leaning forward and staring into my eyes. I'm thinking. 

He continued, And studying. The way to doing everything deeply is to do nothing. Then gave a slightly guilty chuckle.

Wha??!! I stared at his face, trying to maintain eye contact, but it was difficult because he was flashing a kooky smile.

Maybe because I experienced something this strange, this outrageous, it bonded us forever. 

I grinned from ear to ear and nodded encouragingly even though I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

Didn't I say he was amazing? ... 

In his uniquely quirky way.