My father’s birthday is on the same day as Mother Mary’s, September 8. We preferred to celebrate it at the farm this year. It was like a family picnic.
After completing our Sunday duties and church obligations, receiving the Word and the Mystical Body of Christ to nourish our bodies and souls, we thanked the Lord for the gift of my father’s life, which reached his 79th year, and for the years to come. We prayed for God’s continued blessings, love, mercy, guidance, protection, provision, healing and forgiveness of our sins. After church we went to the farm to be with my father on his birthday.
I prepared some food and his favourite dessert and brought him some bottles of beer. I was well aware of my father’s weakness. He is a man of few words, but when he gets tipsy he talks a lot. We have loved, accepted and embraced all his flaws and imperfections, because there is no perfect father.
My father is still the cook of the family and he loves to cook for us and we appreciate and acknowledge his untiring love, service and sacrifice, all done on the farm, braving the heat of the sun and the rain, living a simple and ordinary life. He has dedicated his whole life to the farm and nobody can take it away from him. We cannot even stop him. This is his physical routine, getting up at dawn to be on the farm before the sun goes down to take care of his farm animals. We discourage him from doing heavy work like ploughing the fields, but sometimes he still does it. In his old age, the farm is still his life and his happiness.
Sometimes our story may seem a bit repetitive, or we may say that this story sounds familiar. But it is the reality of life. We can never fake or change our story. We can never pretend to be a story that we are not. Whether it is good or bad, we can always draw strength and inspiration from it.
So please allow me to share my undying stories. We may not have been blessed financially to treat or pamper my father on his birthdays. What I can give back to my father for all his sacrifices is my love. We are blessed to still have our father with us and his presence is more than enough. I only pray for his health and longevity. Thank you Lord for the gift of a father. Mama Mary, thank you for showing us the faith of a mother and your simplicity and obedience to the will of the Father. May you continue to intercede for us in our prayers to your Son Jesus. Amen.
Lynn Salinas-Batoliño
The Philippines
