June is a big month. My Dad's birthday is June 4. A. proposed June 9. Father's Day is in June, and our wedding anniversary is June 18. Not to mention family birthdays in June too. June is the gateway to summer, a time to wade through life's dark spots.
Bit of an annual ritual as I page through photo albums, memories of my Dad. Traditional Filipino man who arrived in the 1960s, worked hard to create a life in Jersey City. Age and sickness softened him.
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Not the image of him pained and bald because of cancer treatment. This is how I like to remember my Dad -- cutting and funny, engaging and a bit of a button pusher, overall supportive. My fondest memory of him is how he, along with his Knights of Columbus buddies, came out to support a historical mural project I'd been working on with FilAm youth in Jersey City. More than thirty years ago, I gushed with idealism and activism, my time divided between my NYU career and community work with NYC's Asian American and Jersey City's FilAm youth.
Grateful that my relationship with my Dad grew beyond my 15yo angst, that we had a chance to appreciate each other -- he as a seasoned parent, me as an adult woman. Thankful that he had a few years to relish a friendship with his son-in-law, a man whose patient compassion supported our family through our journey with cancer.
Hope your view from beyond the stars is wonderful, Dad.
