I thought I’d do a chill run today -being Father’s day which I really do not regard any more special than the regular days since I still have to do the laundry anyways. This day is for the malls, Lazada, Amazon and other online stores. Not for real - for me.
Anyways, back to the run. A chill run for me is not trying to outrun myself or break my own record or run under 30mins. Just. Run. 5k. Nonstop. No matter how long it takes me. The first km is always difficult -for some reason, this is how my body reacts. At every start, this bod makes me think that it’s good for only about 2 to 2.5k this run. Always. Every run. The second, third and fourth are usually better but the last K, mentally, is most torturing. It feels like you need to pee already but you’re in the middle of a heavy traffic and you’re still like a harrowing half-an-hour away to your destination. In our village, I run past the usual early morning neighbors around the block that I cover. Around the corner just before turning to the street where our house is, the usual neighbor is a lady with a coffee mug in one hand and a rosary in the other. Sometimes I see her walking around the same block until she finishes the rosary. Today, she was just standing there as if waiting for someone to walk or run by. I did. Even before I’d do my usual no-word g’morning hand gesture, she greeted, “Happy Father’s day!” I was, by then in my last K with that I-need-to-pee-already-in-the-middle-of-a-heavy-traffic feeling, expelling every ounce of oxygen out of my lungs. But believe me, when I heard her greeting, I felt I could do another 5k. What a short, simple action can do even to a person in a breathless situation like I was in! Amazing! Then, just then, I thought maybe Father’s day is for real.
But it is real. You know why? Ask me “why?”
Am waiting…
Ask me now.
Father’s day is real because our Heavenly Father is real. The Father and Creator of this universe. He is real. I know this because I am reminded of His presence all the time. This day is not really for me but for me to honor my Heavenly Father for His miracles that I continuously witness in my life and in the people who matter to me. I honor Him for all these and also for this:
Yesterday, I mounted these frames that Andre and Nikkei have been pestering me to put up since pre-covid days. Oh man, that was a long time ago! They were supposed to surprise Andre and Nikkei who were out swimming with their cousins. But surprise was on me. I realized that all this time, I was denying myself the joy of seeing how beautiful the children that Father God has given me to look after, to guard, to love. And now as I sit chugging the protein drink I prepared before the run and listening to my Sunday playlist, I smile looking at the new wall of fame. Today, I am also reminded that He also gave me an earthly father -tatang Didong, who left this world seven months ago. I read again this article I wrote on the day of his burial. It's good to be reminded every now and then.
Thank You, Abba Father. Thank you, tatang D. To all the fathers who inspire me and to all the fathers reading this, Happy Father's day. The extra 0.25k distance and the extra 5'41" time I ran today are dedicated to you. Yep, every puff of the way.
