My father

My father was a great man. His determination to accomplish anything and knowing how he endured adversities fulfilling his responsibilities are very inspiring.

Growing up was not that fun for him. His parents were poor and buying toys for them was a luxury they could not afford. Lacking in sufficient means, his parents struggled to put him and his siblings to school. My father loved school even though he didn't have the fancy clothes and shoes that other kids enjoyed. When he finished 6^th grade, their financial situation forced him to stop going to school and assisted his parents in working in the farm.

In his twenties, he met my wonderful mom. I remember my father's story about how my mom's dad challenged him to prove that he's a worthy person for my mom. My grandpa asked him to leave my mom and the city altogether for three months. He was not to make any form of communication at all. If he did come back, he has my grandpa's blessing to marry my mom. My mom and dad were both devastated about this but my dad carried on as told. Proving that he was a good person with an honest intention for my mom, he did come back and ended marrying her later on. They soon had three beautiful and smart kids. Faced with difficulties in looking after a growing family, my father never stopped working hard. He worked as an assistant to the mechanic in my uncle's garage. As a very efficient and competent man and being the quick learner that he was, he managed to learn everything from oil change to body painting to overhauling, plus more. He also became very good in doing carpenter jobs.

The absence of a degree in an automotive school did not stop him from achieving more than he can. After years of hard work, he eventually became a proud owner of a small auto repair shop. I can recall how I spent my free time helping him out at his garage. He would make me hand him the tools that he needed or I would just simply watch him work. I found it very fascinating when he first built our first car. He purchased a junk car and some metal parts from a junk shop and painstakingly converted it into a running and exquisitely painted car. It was so cool to own a car built by your own father.

He later on made a habit of purchasing junk cars, converted them and put them in the market. Aside from building us our first car, he also made us our cabinets, bookcases, bunk beds and even our bikes. Another skill that he had was modifying or transforming beyond repair vintage sewing machines. These machines may be small compared to building cars but assembling their parts together are as complex as constructing an engine. Vintage sewing machines come in legs and a table which serves as the case. He can construct that too. When everything was done and running, he would then intricately design the machine with his creative painting. He also made some portable sewing machines that were hand operated.

I don't know if he realized it but my father was a genius. He has acquired a talent he was so masterful in. I have no words to describe how proud I am to have him as a father. He said his goal in life is to give us what his parents were not able to give him – education. All three of us finished college with hard earned degrees to make him proud.