The First Guy I Ever Loved

 

 It's my dad's birthday today!

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times Dad has gotten angry with me -

as far as that kind of out loud, I better close my mouth right now kind of upset with me.

What I remember most about growing up is Dad sitting with me and explaining how he felt,

why I was being disciplined, why my mom was upset

or all of the above.

I love my dad because he loves God, he loves my mom, and he loves me and my sister with a strong, quiet love.  He works hard without complaint and always provides for his family.  He's probably

one of the most patient men I know.  Living with three women for such a long time -

he would have to be.  Clearly.

Along with my dad's calm, loving personality comes a blunt honesty that can sometimes startle you if you're not used to it.  Beware the blemish of your teenage years because Dad might blatantly ask,

What's that on your forehead?

He got this wonderful trait from my grandmother who would always tell me, my sister, and my cousins not to smile as if we were brushing our teeth.  She wanted us all to smile demurely.  It never worked out.

Some of my favorite Dad quotes:

Grace, too much of anything isn't a good thing.

Birds of a feather flock together.  You need to choose your friends wisely.

Grace, sit up.

Ok, so I had a friend (who was a boy) over the house one day.  We may or may not have liked each other (we did), but we were not dating - at all.  We were watching TV on the couch, and I might have been sitting slightly close to said friend - maybe I was leaning in a tad?  My dad walked by, looked me right in my eyeballs and said sternly,

Grace, sit up.

I promptly did.

It's a good piece of advice to follow if you ask me.

What's even more awesome than remembering Dad singing and dancing randomly in the living room or teasing my mom while she washed the dishes - is watching my Dad with our girls.  There's something extremely special about a lolo (Tagalog for grandfather) and his granddaughters.  They love him in a ridiculous way.  Evangeline affectionately calls him Yoyo.

Happy 66th Birthday, Yoyo - we love you so very much.