kontrabida

Just recently I overheard someone compare me to a TV series villainess.

I don’t watch the series but I have an idea who the antagonist is, I’m not sure though of how this villainess is perceived – a bitch or an evil?

The conversation was nothing but an exchange of whispers but it was so deafening it made me cringe from where I was seated.

I don’t need to look behind me to see who made the comparison but if it was a stranger or just an acquaintance this wouldn’t end up as my blog entry.

To hear someone whom I thought knows me better than that so casually compare me to a villain is unfair.

But after a short-lived “I-was-hurt” drama I’m glad I was able to see good things come out of this somewhat unpleasant encounter.

In the absence of malice, the listener in the conversation I overheard later on confirmed what I thought I heard and says that he thinks otherwise. He says that I am more comparable to the heroine. He may be pulling my sleeves or maybe his comparison was more on the physical side but I’d rather not entertain the idea. I don’t want to waste time overthinking how other people perceive me.

After a considerable moment spent on reflection I have decided against talking to the person. I realized that she is just the kind of catalyst I needed to assess my relationship with others and to correct the way I perceive and treat others.

I am no saint and I myself am guilty of passing judgments even to my friends so I guess I deserved this. Sabi nga ni Celine Dion in one of her song: “it’s all coming back to me now” - sa tagalog, karma!

a song for papa

Over and over I’d listen to Richard Poon as he croons his rendition of I’ll Take Care of You.

As the song is about love I have suddenly turned into a starry eyed, hopeless romantic imagining myself in a scene fit only for star cinema’s hottest love teams today.

There I was with Piolo Pascual shedding tears as he pledges his commitment to love me.

Sigh, sigh, sigh!

Like a drama series from the country’s number one network the story slowly unfolds in my mind.

Day after day the plot would change and when, finally, I have made up my mind that I am ready for a kissing scene with my leading man, I - unexpectedly, pictured the song in a different light.

I no longer see myself in a dream sequence with Piolo Pascual. 

Instead, I saw myself brushing my father’s hair of white 

with my bear hands, as I usually do.

I realized how appropriate the song is for us father and daughter tandem.

I want you to know that I love you so

I’m proud to tell the world you’re mine

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it once more

You’ll be in my heart ’till the end of time

I’ll take care of you

Don’t be sad, don’t be blue

Just count on me your whole life through

And I’ll take care of you

The song, partly, sums up my great love for my dear father.

I want to take care of him in this stage of his life when he is not only gray and old but ailing.

Once, I have made a major decission to take care of him and with that decission was the hope that he will again live a normal life.

But that hope vanished when the kidney i have donated him failed to function after twelve days.

That experience has not only left me with an 8-inch scar below my right rib cage but a scar that will forever be my reminder of how i truly loved and adored my father.

That’s when my passion for taking care of my Papa begun.

I know that there are other ways I can take care of him but if only I can still donate my left kidney, i will.