A tibute to my father

What does afterlife offer? What happens if I close my eyes and sleep for eternity? These are just few questions I have about dying. It was my father’s 49^th birthday yesterday. Supposedly that is. I lost track of time. It has already been 22 years since he died. Yes, it is a long time. I don’t know what he is doing right now. If what the Catholic church say is true, he is either inside the doors of heaven or in hell, getting himself a lick by eternal flames. Oh I forgot the mythical purgatory! Very creative I say to place something in between heaven and hell. Very genius of the Catholic church. My father is actually a good son to my grandmother and the exact opposite to his father. I never really had the chance to know him though. I was too young when he got killed. So which is true? I think it is both. I think somebody can be either good or bad depending who is judging. Even though I was just barely six years old back then, I have good clear detailed memories of him. I remember him preparing my food, making me sit on his lap while on his other hand, holding my plate facing in front of an electric fan letting it cool so I could easily chew it up. There was also this time when we were in Meycauayan, back at my grandparent’s place, he was taking me home to Fairview (a place in Quezon City)and my dad had to trick me by telling me we were off to a mall so he could buy me something really nice. I fell for it of course. I just noticed that we just went pass by the mall. You can just imagine what happened next. Chaos! But there was this one particular night, it was just him and I watching TV in our shanty inspired house. He was sharing to me a dream he wanted for us. A dream which just like any father would want for his family. He was assuring me that one day that he would get a better job so we would no longer have to live in that filthy place we were at. And he added, so he could take my sister and I to the mall every Sunday, buy any toy we wish, eat at Jollibee (a famous fast food chain), and frolic at the park no matter how long we wanted to. That just sounded too cool, especially when you are just a kid who wanted nothing but play and have toys. But all that is just a memory now. An old movie film rolling inside my head. Honestly, I miss my dad. It would have been grand, to see and play with his fine grand children everyday, to jokingly remind him of his age or even to talk to him, father and son. I am pretty sure he could have been super. Though I was not able to know him a little better, I can say he had been a father to me. This is just a little tribute to him. In memory of my loving father.