When you are the only daughter in a family with 4 children, it is almost expected to be your dad's favorite.
I remember a particular moment when I was five and and my dad was sending handwritten letters to my mom whenever he had to spend time away from us (for business purposes). One night I read one of his letters out loud and it said "Bilhin mo na ang rubber shoes ng favorite daughter ko". I raised an eyebrow and told my mom, "but I am his only daughter". My mom just laughed at my comment. To this day, even though we only see each other once a year and I'm already living independently, I know that he still looks at me in the same way.
My dad has always been my biggest fan. While I was never the type of kid who was an overachiever, I think he always believed that I can do great things. He looked forward to Quarterly Honors' Convocations. Though I was never on the top 10, such occasions made him feel compelled to shine his leather shoes dress nicely for a few seconds on stage.
I grew up in a household that didn't have an overflowing inflow of cash. Though we never experienced having to write promissory notes for not paying tuition fees on time, we had our own share financial problems. And now that I am living independently, I am in awe of how my dad was able to provide our needs while growing up. In spite of the financial challenges that he and my mom encountered, they still managed to provide us a normal childhood and instill in us the values of hard work and integrity, of earning money only through honest means.
In the past few years as I started building my own career, I realized how much influence he has in the way I work. And recently, when our family went through some difficult days, I saw for myself just how strong and resilient he can be, and I know that such are the traits that kept our family together all these years.
My dad is my hero and he is the strongest and most optimistic man I know. He taught me the value of building lasting relationships, of helping people whenever you can without expecting anything in return, of being generous even when you don't have much. And someday, when I am ready to start my own family, it's going to be with someone like my Dad.
