UA&P I AM S.T.R.O.N.G. : IM my DAD's KID

Krystle shouts:

The holiday season always brings a heart-flipping, pulse-racing feeling to me. From flipping to the last page of the calendar to jumping up and down on New Year’s Eve, the season never fails to give me that happiness that could never be felt exactly the rest of the year. I’m not sure if it’s the Christmas trimmings, or the chilly but inviting air, or the thrill of shopping, the excitement of receiving presents, the fun in giving, or the sudden generosity of everyone—all I know is that the holiday season gets everyone—not just me into that sort-of-crazy happiness that gets everyone to act different (in a good way =P).

For one, we are nicer to everyone. That is why the holidays is the perfect season for us to evaluate our relationship with others. And to whom do we start but with our families. Personally, I think about how my relationship with my family has become compared to the year before: Have I become closer to dad? Can I open up to mom about that boy I like? Are kuya and I talking more? Did I bond more with my little sister? Do I know more about my little brother than I did previously?

Like almost every girl out there, I never really opened up to my dad about certain concerns. There was a time that we do not even talk that much because there was nothing to talk about. So besides talking about how our days went by at dinner time, we never really talk. Also, he is really pre-occupied with work. Helping run the family business talks most of his time and energy that whenever he gets home, we’re already in bed. So we were never really close. When I started going to college, the gap between us became bigger.

But everything changed when my mom left for the states. Dad had to be our mom as well. This meant that in order for us to have a functional relationship, he had to spend more time with us (despite the fact that he had to work double) and eventually, he had to know and get closer to each of us. This is especially hard if you have a son who already works, a daughter in college and two more kids in high school—but my dad made it work.

Despite having to manage the family business and putting up his own, he makes it a point to be the one to bring and fetch my 2 younger siblings to and from school; spend his weeknights at home or on a night out with us; dish out a lot of stuff to talk about on the dinner table or in the car (from our school to his business, from our mom to our friends, from his experiences as a student to ours, from his problems to ours, from what went on when he partied the night before to what went on when we partied… and so much more)—in other words, he was able to facilitate a more open relationship between us.

Although such openness came due to mom’s absence, I am still happy because my dad put so much effort into making our family closer together-- but of course, we had to cooperate. We miss mom, but now we know that dad is and will always be there for and with us no matter what. I guess me and my siblings are very lucky to have such an open relationship with our dad now because we can relate better with each other now—he knows what’s going on with us so he knows how to help us deal with stuff we find ourselves in.

My dad’s real cool. I bet if you get closer to yours, you’ll find out that he is too!

How are you and your dad? Are you close? Getting there? Tell me! =P