I was nineteen years old when I first celebrated father’s day with my Dad. As I have shared in my previous posts, I grew up without my parents and raised by my wonderful grandparents. The first time I actually met my father in person was when I was thirteen years old but we wrote letters to each other for many years. My father and I lost touch for a few years and I remember when I was twelve and about to graduate from elementary, every night I would hang out by the porch and look up the sky and wait for a shooting star. I was waiting for a shooting star so I can make a wish…to finally meet my father and in hopes that he can attend my elementary graduation. For many nights I made a wish on a shooting star. I didn’t know why the letters stopped coming and why I have’t heard from my father at that time. Until one day I decided to do something about it. I lived in the Philippines then and we didn’t have a phone at home so I went to PLDT (telephone company in the Philippines) where they have phone booths where you can make long distance collect calls overseas. I’m familiar with those phone booths because once in a while when I would speak to my mother (she lives in Japan) that’s where my Aunt would take me. I wasn’t sure exactly what I would do to find him. I was just a child at that time, only twelve…but I was determined and I believed in my heart that I can make it happen. So I went to PLDT and made a phone call. I called the only phone number I knew of my father’s that my grandfather had given me when I asked for it. I was nervous and excited at the same time but I was feeling positive. I was optimistic. I just had this feeling that something good is about to happen. So I dialed AT&T’s collect call number and an operator was on the other line to assist me with the call. It was a woman on the other line. She tried to help me make that very important call. The operator then comes back on the line and told me that the number I have has been disconnected. So I asked her if maybe she can help me track it down. I told her I was looking for my father and I have his address. So I gave her my father’s name and phone number and address that I know. The operator was very kind and I can sense her eagerness to want to help a child locate her father. She put me on hold for a few minutes and I patiently waited. Then she comes back online and says that she thinks she found my father. I was so excited and so was she! She gave me my father’s new address and phone number and connected my call. After a couple of years of no communication, I finally got to hear my father’s voice again! My father was so surprised and he sounded happy to hear from me. I don’t remember how long we spoke on the phone but it was for a while. We talked about a lot of stuff but I never did ask about what happened and why we lost touch for a few years. I guess I was just so excited that I finally found my father that I forgot to ask him what happened those years. Whatever the reason was, it didn’t really matter anymore. All that matters is that we have communication again. It was a day that I will never ever forget and the best graduation gift ever (my graduation day was a few days later)! That operator was heaven sent for being patient with me and for having the heart to help a child reconnect with her father again. I can’t thank her enough for what she has done for me :).

Though my father wasn’t able to attend my graduation that year, he came to visit me the following year. I remember being so nervous on the way to the airport to pick up my father. We’re about to meet for the first time in thirteen years. I was only two months old when he last saw me. I was nervous and excited. My cousins and uncle went with me to the airport to pick up my father and when we finally got back home and got out of the vehicle I remember hearing my father say…”Where’s my daughter?”, I was so nervous and shy and didn’t know what to say or how to react but cry. My father hugged me tight and cried. I was crying as well. I couldn’t stop crying and my father kept saying sorry while he continues to hug me and cry. It was definitely one of the best days of my life! I got to spend three weeks of that summer with my father and actually got to meet some of my relatives from my father side that I have never met before.

I’d say that wishing on a shooting star definitely made my dream come true of finally meeting my father. Five years after that I migrated to the U.S. and the rest is history :).

Below is a poem I wrote for my father a while back to honor him. If there is one thing I truly admire about my father is that he is a strong individual. Losing your parents at such an early age couldn’t be that easy but despite everything that he has gone through in life he remained positive and continue to do so. ♥

Below is a short clip of the music box figurine playing Edelweiss :).