Last Sunday, we celebrated Father’s Day. And while it is dubbed more as a Hallmark, rather than an official holiday, just like Mother’s Day, it is the perfect occasion, and excuse to celebrate the fathers in our lives. Here is my tribute to the three figures in mine:

To my maternal grandfather Antonio, who I fondly called wowo – being the first grand-child most definitely had its perks, and was I able to milk it with you. You may have been stern, and intimidating to many – heck, I gifted you with a Grumpy dwarf stuffed toy one trip which you lovingly kept in your dresser — but your presence I look back at, and associate with warmth, security and a grandfather’s love. I still hear your voice in my head, and the signature “Alexaxa, how are you?” followed by the heartiest and most comforting laugh I will ever know. How I wish you could have met your namesake, but I will make sure he knows of you, and all the great things you were. Looking back now, you were, and will always be the quintessential gentleman in my books. Thank you for loving my mom — the ultimate daddy’s girl — in the way that you did. It is because of that outpour of love, that she has so much of it to give today.

To my dad — there may have been times when we did not see eye to eye, and God only knows the stress that has come upon me, but ultimately, and through it all, you have gifted me with strength, resilience, and the ability to endure. They say time and presence is the greatest gift you can give a child, and I will always hold dear every drive to school, from pre-school to senior year college, every Betamax tape you ever recorded, and of course, that walk down the aisle in a practically empty church. Seeing you today as my son’s “papa” brings me a sort of joy I would never imagined. Seeing his connection with you is not only heartwarming, but flabbergasting, and I am truly blessed that he too is able to spend his days with you around. Thank you for loving him the way that you do.

To my husband — the father of my son. Growing up together, and falling in love in our twenties was fun, getting married during a pandemic and living abroad for almost three years was an adventure, and through it all, but I think I have found my most favorite version of you in this chapter of our lives — as a dada. A most endearing, child-like and tender side of you has been unraveled, and I never thought you would be as present, and involved as you are. How lucky this boy is to have you as his father. Thank you for loving him (albeit probably a thousand times more) in the same way that you love me — always ready, steady, patient and secure; comforting, consistent, understanding, and full of life.

They say that the best gift a father can give to his children is to love their mother. And the only way to end this would be to thank the father of all fathers — God our father — for giving me three men, and fathers in my life who all do. After all,

“We love because He first loved us.” John 4:19.

(Belated) Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers and father figures out there!