HOLIDAYS are everybody's favorite for this is the time we can spend extra moments with our family. This is the time we can bond with them and create good memories.
MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY?
Here in the Philippines, we celebrate a lot of holidays like Independence Day, Teachers' Day, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, and more.
Among the holidays, my favorite is the Christmas Holiday. Not because it is the longest holiday celebrated here in the Philippines but because it is the holiday when I had the best memories of my late Tatay( an endearment for my father).
Meet My late Tatay😇
Back then we used to decorate our DIY Christmas Tree every first day of September. Tatay used to select the best Jackfruit Tree to cut for our Christmas Tree. We decorated our humble home with Christmas lights and decorations together.
For the whole "ber" months, we used to sing Christmas songs every night before we went to sleep with him playing the guitar as our accompaniment. Every Christmas Eve the whole family dances together happily while waiting for the clock to strike at midnight, and I am his favorite partner. Among the family members, we spend more time on the dance floor together dancing to the tune of cha-cha-cha.
THE TRAGIC NEWS
In
December of 2005, Tatay was diagnosed with stage four liver cirrhosis and was told by the doctor that he only had three months to live. The family was shocked and a bit lost because we were so dependent on him in terms of the food we eat every day because he used to cook for the family.
THE BELIEF
The Nine Mornings (Simbang Gabi) is a well-known Filipino Tradition wherein parishioners must complete all the nine days of the nine morning for his or her wish to be granted.
Though I know about this belief, but I never tried to wish for one. My 2005 nine mornings were different because I had a wish, and never missed to mention every day of the nine mornings. My wish? Is to grant my Tatay a little longer life, enough for us to accept that he will depart from us without coming back.
IS THE WISH GRANTED?
YES! God grants us more than enough time to accept Tatay's fate. We were able to celebrate two Christmases happily before He departed from us.
The doctor said it was a rare case, to survive in that long period for his diagnosis, but for us, it was a miracle granted by the Christmas Season. A time when we can remember our Tatay at his happiest.
" The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched- they must be felt with the heart."
Helen Keller
Thank you so much Ladies of Hive for this opportunity. God bless us all.