The Purple Heart

If I’m not mistaken, it was three years ago when I wrote a Mother’s day special article dedicated to my mom. So I think that it was fair and just that I do one for my dad as well since it’s Father’s day. The problem is, I didn’t know where to start. It has been a week since I plan of doing so, and I still couldn’t even think even just the title of the article.

I don’t have the perfect dad. He is not filthy rich. He smokes, he drinks (a lot in fact), he’s moody, he swears a lot and he could make a mad man out of me. Me and my dad are not close like my mom. We don’t chat like what me and my mom do. I don’t remember clutching into him whenever I like or feel like what I do with my mom. But that don’t make me love my dad any less.

Yesterday was father’s day. And I believe social networking sites made it pretty obvious. “I love you Tatay”, “We miss you Papa”, “You’re the best Dad in the world”, these are just some of what you will see posted on someone’s wall or tweets shown trending on this special day. I love my dad just the same, but it made me think, “Ano nga ba ang definition ng ‘Best Father’?

I’m not a Daddy’s Girl. I don’t even think that I’m a Mommy’s princess either. Princesses would just have to ask, smile or cry and kaboom! They would get the latest Barbie fashion doll, or Ken’s car, or that talking bear they want in a glitch. Me and my brother would have to work our ass out if we wanted something. My dad would always tell me in writing (internet was not born yet way back) to get good grades to get what I want. I could have been the most sought after female star if I didn’t failed my grade back in grade school. I was starting a career in showbiz-ness when my school card went crazy and suddenly had that number 7 lying somewhere. Anong binatbat sana ni Katrina Halili sa ‘kin kung sikat rin ako ngayon! Because my dad said no to spotlight..here I am..a regular person..haha

My parents had or actually still have a marital relationship that adjectives are having a hard time describing. They would fight ‘till dawn if they had a chance, they would act as crazy teenagers at times and they would be amazingly ok the next day.

Father’s, as I know, should be the “HALIGI ng TAHANAN”. They are the mason of the family. Between your two parents, it’s the dad you are more scared of when you’ve done something crazy. Pops are the ones who mold you harder than anything else, but will woo you the sweetest. Daddy’s are the one who put forth a gun or a knife when a suitor comes by for a visit or the one who will give you condom lessons once son’s go active. They will also provide you your first driving lessons (either a bicycle or wheels) and tell you the name of the worst politician like they were in the white house.

If this is how you define the best, then I may be doom for not having the best dad.

I remember my flavor of the month (actually lumagpas daw ng one month..haha) loves to play web poker. This goes to more than half of my male friends’ population. Tong-its ako mas magaling, and up to this moment, I’m still not really recognizing how poker game is. All I know is that Ace and Kings are dominant, hmmm, which actually almost the same to all card games. Like Kings, they rule your palms. Kings are a must be cards. Or if not a must be, they could be your life saver. There are certain games that you cannot play if Kings are not present. You can’t rule a monarch without Kings as well.

Then it struck me, best dad’s can be defined as the Kings of a deck. They are scary, they best provide, cannot live without their queens, and look after their jack’s and the rest of the gang. You will need Kings to take over lower cards. Aces are big time weapons as well, but they don’t have the face that stays on your mind. The best dad, is that King that has a face and a heart. The flower that makes princesses’ blooms and the spade that will try to be neutral to all possibilities. My dad would never be the king of the deck.

He would be my Joker.

A deck cannot be released without the Joker. Comes out in different colors and faces, but derived as the same. Kings has four faces that gives you confusion as to whom should you give your loyalty. The Joker will not give you that. The Joker may not be in or was never active in any game of your deck life, but surely, when you open your deck of cards, you expect that the Joker will always..always be there. And if you come to think of it, if anyone would discover a card game that involves the Joker, it would either be that the one who has it will win or lose.

Kings, a lot of them, have hurt me left and right, up and down, but the Joker never did. He was not always present on my games, but he made sure that he was somehow aware of it. He was not with me when I was on the streak of winning, but my Joker made sure that all other decks in the world and back, knew how I played the game.

I may not have the best dad in the world, but I wouldn’t want it any other way than this.

I love you Daddy!

Be my Joker forever and after.

Happy Father’s Day everyone!

Downloaded tumblr for my BB :)

i can’t still find it!!!!

oh there!found it!hahahaha