Little Miss Sam Love.

“Sa gubat may malaking itim na aso ang humarang sa amin, pagkalakilaki talaga, kaya kumaripas kami ng takbo!”

I heard this story 10 times already, but my ears never got tired of listening to this same old adventure which my father told me. I will forever fancy those stories he’s telling me before sleep. He was such a great story teller for me. When I was a kid, I remember that before I went to bed, I kept on asking him to tell me amazing stories about his childhood, and though he’s tired and sleepy, he still carried on to make my whole day complete. But unfortunately, there’s a payment per story, in every story he’s telling me there should be a corresponding hand massage. I am a fan so it didn’t matter much, I did it in exchange. He told me his encounters with huge black dogs, huge black birds, and huge black pigs and any animal in the Farmville family which in exception is huge and black. All animals can be seen in your Facebook’s Farmville right? Well, I do believe and I always got amazed by his tales especially when I was still a kid, but though now that I am all grown up, I still enjoy them, for the reason of course, he’s my father, I am so delighted thinking that he is the hero of his quests, and it’s actually fun listening and imagining those wonderful exaggerations, I felt like I was turned back 10 years young. I think it’s also healthy for the creativity of mind that I can connect with his awesome thoughts and imaginations, though I do not drown myself in imagining and making my own world, since indulging in it might lead to insanity (laughs).

Some of his stories also pertain in his life at sea, since his job was there, not that he is an assistant of Little Mermaid, but he works in a ship, under Jack Sparrow… Of course, I am joking… Anyway since he’s working in a ship, by all means, he really has variety and wide experiences regarding different places, and different cultures of other countries he went to, he was able to meet different people, befriended them and shared stories with each other.

So when he comes home, he has loads to tell me. New adventures, some of it, if not, that same old huge, black mammal he saw in the forest when he was young.

One of his stories I can share which really inspired me a lot, actually always, is how he got where he is right now. My father used to tell me, he is some kind of a poor boy living in a province, he took care of horses, he went for fishing just to have some food in their table, got left in the middle of the sea, where big waves hunting his boat down, he got to climb coconut trees to sell, and other farm works we usually see in the province.  What he just wanted was to study and have a stable job to provide his daily living. He dreamed simply. Because from where he is that time, all he could ask for is to upgrade his living just as one level high. He was sent here in Manila, due to his persistence to finish his studies, he wanted to study criminology in college but ended up to be a Marine Transportation graduate. He was a working student, he earned and dedicated it for his tuition fee, I don’t know how he did it but that was so amazing , even I,  will have so much difficulty adjusting my schedules, I don’t know if I can survive if I am in his shoes back then . Finally he graduated, all credits to his own sweat and tears and most of all his perseverance and his goal to finish his studies. The rest is history. From a simple dream to study, because of hardwork , perseverance and most of all, full trust in God, he didn’t only took one step higher but climbed a whole staircase to achieve where he is right now .

I am very proud of my father and for me, if I am going to be asked who’s  my idol, whom I do I look up to? I ain’t gonna drop any celebrity or whoever public figure, I am just going tell them that my idols are my PARENTS. They both dream simply, they didn’t expect so much in life, what they did was to strive hard, be not jealous of others who have the things they wish they could have, rather, they became resourceful of what they only have,  they are courageous in facing their endeavors and of course pray to God for His guidance.

Then after telling his story about his dreams, he didn’t just put me to sleep soundly, he also inspired me a lot, he implanted very important life lessons in me. He made me believe that dreams do come true, as long as you do your job well, and believe that God will always lead your way. He didn’t expect so much in life, in fact his dreams are really simple from the start. What he did was to do his best to have growth, as well as to expand his dreams and be more motivated and inspired. Then, he got more than what he asked for. Life really has lots of beautiful surprises.

His stories are the most wonderful and precious to me. That’s why I am so proud to say that my most favorite story teller in the world- is MY FATHER.