I have enjoyed writing for quite a long time now, it's something that I do in my spare time, but I wouldn't call myself the best writer there is.
When I was just in elementary school, I never really thought I would dip my toes into writing, but then, my teacher encouraged me to participate in the Division Schools Press Conference as a Filipino Sports Writer, and so I did. I competed and got to the Regional level, but sadly, I was eliminated.
After years, I still competed as a writer, but I gave it a break once I got to high school. I realized that Filipino sports writing was just something I was once forced to do and not something I wanted to do. But I did learn a lot of great writing tips from it.
Contrary to my first experience as a writer, my favorite language to write in was English. It's a language that I find comfortable to write in, and I feel like I could truly express what I'm feeling.
Poems were my go-to format; I find them so complex but short. Something that I genuinely like.
Of course, my parents never really knew about my writing capabilities up until my younger brother's graduation.
See, my grandfather is a knowledgeable person. He worked as an English teacher in the past and has been writing for our valedictory speeches ever since my sister and mine. But now, he was getting really old, and he struggled to hold a pen steadily, let alone write an entire speech.
And so, my mother asked if I could write one for my brother and just let my grandfather check it for errors. We had an upcoming exam, and my mother was rushing me to write this speech because their teacher was asking for a draft right then and there, so I wrote one.
A few hours later, my grandfather came back with nothing. He did not find a single error, and he even commended the flow of my writing to be smooth and easy to understand. He greatly praised the piece that I wrote.
He was the only one who could recognize my talent and even told me that I was good, something that even I couldn't say to myself.
And now, his health is slowly deteriorating. He has recently been advised for dialysis as his kidneys are only 5% functioning. Once I heard about this news, my heart broke. It's only recently that someone from our family has appreciated my writing, and now he's dying.
I would love to write him a poem or a letter of some sort to give to him before he passes away due to old age, but I can't bring myself to do it; it's too painful.
My grandfather and I have never been close because I tend to stay quiet during family gatherings but writing and our passion for it has brought us closer than we have ever had.
I wish he could stay long enough until I reach my dream of becoming a blogger and becoming a famous writer here in the Philippines.