However, sometimes, it's always good to remember the people we do truly care for and love, especially family. As people say, you can choose friends, but not family.
One way or another, I'm sure somewhere along the lives of ours, we were asked this question once, "who in your opinion is the greatest person you know that ever lived?"
Well, I would say Christ would be the greatest man that ever lived. But also I suppose closer to home, I would definitely say that my father, was the greatest person I know who ever lived.
Many of life's lessons were not taught verbally, but through his actions, I have learned much.
He has always been the pillar of the family. Cliche as it may sound, it rings true for me.
And in this post, I shall take a walk down memory lane, of growing up under my father's tutelage.
When my sister and I was much younger, my dad was pretty strict with a lot of things. I remember him giving us real time punishments when we did mistakes. When I mean real time, I mean, the cane was a real option. Hahaha. Yes. We as kids, fear the cane! And of course in that process, we feared our father every time we did wrong! Back then, counseling was never an option. We as kids, never got to talk things out. Perhaps we didn't understand back then. We were quite a mischievous and terrible bunch, but I suppose back when we were kids, punishment itself was always evil. But with each punishment we also learn that as kids, there were things that we were not meant to do.
But as we grew older, his methods changed. The cane was no longer an option for punishment. And in my teenage years, I suppose my dad started using ways to reach out to us. Discussions. Opinions. And perhaps the one thing that mattered a lot, was that he was wiling to listen. I suppose there came a time, when he knew it was difficult to get his message across (we were teenagers back then, and teenagers are really from hell) and he slowly began to let go of things.
He allowed us to choose the paths we took, but yet always there to bring us back, if ever our choices deviated too much from what is good for us in the process of growing up.
In that manner, he allowed us to learn from our own mistakes when we made them, but prior to that, we were always told of possible consequences. It was a situation of whether we wanted to listen or not.
However, no matter, our dad has always been the safety net when we fall and fail. And until now, I know that he still looks forward for the best for us. He has been planning for us, since the beginning, and though I do not see it in my childhood days, as I grew older, it became so much more apparent. My dad and my mom, they have made a real impact on my life, and it is something i will never be able to repay in kind. But I hope I may repay this boundless debt the best I can.
So, the best moments that I have with my father are:-
1. He taught me how to hold my racket and play badminton
2. He taught me how to play basketball (though I really sucked at it and was only playing it due to the existing hype at the material time).
3. The football chats we have when we watch football. I grew up reading the World Cup magazines that he collected and this is a tradition I intend to keep as I start my own collection.
4. When I was 11, we had our annual holiday trip in KL and back then, going to Toys R Us was a super huge event. I wanted to splurge my AngPow money on a Transformer toy which I knew I wanted to get (can't remember which one though). My dad advised me to get Ninja Turtles figurines and said that I could have gotten 2 for the price of one Transformer robot. I duly followed his advised and picked Michangelo and Donatello. My dad however, said to buy one first and get the second one on our next trip. Years down the line, i suppose I realized that my dad tricked me, cause I was still stuck with only Michangelo. Haahha...Oh well......
5. Watching badminton with my dad. We are also big badminton fans
6. There was a time when my mom was in Singapore working and my sis was in College. That was when we had dinners together everyday (we hardly cooked, since there is only the both of us) and I suppose we got a lot closer during those times.
And as those events become good memories, I look forward to create new memories with my dad. If I were to be a father one day, I don't have to look any further for a role model. I already have one in my father.
I suppose I may have never said it enough to you Dad, for being the macho person that I am, but yes dad, Gay Sze and I love you a lot and thanks for always given your best for us. Thanks for everything and we hope that you will not be disappointed with our shortcomings and failures.
Happy Father's Day, DAD!
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