My Most Unforgettable Teacher

          There’s a song in my head, it’s been playing like a broken record over and over again. It started when I caught Miley Cyrus singing it on Oprah while I was channel surfing. In the show, she sang the song “I miss you”. In the background was a heart-shaped locket with the photo of her grandfather on it. It had a catchy tune, and it sounded kinda nice, so much as it may seem like such a juvenile song for someone like me, I went and downloaded it and put it on my ipod.

       All this week I listened to it often, specially when I would be stuck in the car on my way to work. Every time I’d hear it, I’d feel a lump form in my throat and tears well-up in my eyes. Today, however, it hit home hard. I missed my lolo so much I could barely see straight.     

     It’s been about a dozen years now since he passed and while the pain of missing him has faded much over the years, there are days, like now, when the sadness is so fresh and raw that it really takes my breath away. At times I wish he were here to see me as I am living out my dreams, and succeeding in so many ways. Even though I knew he wouldn’t see me, when I first lost weight I went to the cemetery to show him how thin I was because that was the one thing I was never able to give him when he was alive. I remember crying so much that day because I wished I could see him smile and tell me “I knew you could do it”.

     Earlier this afternoon my mom was trying to convince me to come and join the family for prayers at his gravesite. I chose not to, even jokingly saying “sabi naman ni lolo don’t bother kasi it’s not like he’ll see me there anyway”. While he did tell me that when I was younger, I used it as an excuse not to go. When she turned around, I told my mom, “and besides, masasad lang naman ako if I go”. So I stayed home and tried to get some work done, but to no avail.

    I then got to thinking about my lolo and how much of a great person he was for me. I have come across a lot of people who have taught me a lot, but a lot of my most important life lessons I learned from him. Though these may be common lessons, or perhaps clichés at times, these are my favorite lessons from him:

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