|
|
|
|
Blogs by Paul Cuenco
Charlie* and Dad
1/25/2012 10:10:22 PM
He was telling me a story when by happenstance I notice a tattoo peeking on his right arm despite the fact that he was wearing long sleeves. He showed me others; his back, his left and then right shoulders and peeling away his sleeves, the extent to which he had his tattoo. And then, the stories flowed.
He said that he had tattoos far earlier when it was fashionable; that his tattoo was a sign that he was anti-corporate. Even though he was employed by a corporation, he despised it. There was no fit. He was 64 and by his looks and demeanor, I believe him. He curses a lot. I am amazed that at that older and mature age, he still curses. But you know he did not look like some trashy gentleman out for some dole. He looks decent and respectable. His curses were the only one that gave hint as to what he was when he was 25. I begin to wonder how he was conducting himself in privacy.
One time, he said, he was invited by a relative to stay with them in New York City. And there was a neighbor in that city that was crabby and nasty, that small things irritate him and that he shouted profanities at people. When his small relative played with a Frisbee and it landed on the neighbor’s bushes, the neighbor prohibited his small relatives to retrieve it and a small tiff ensued. He went out to his relative’s yard and he himself had a spat with him insulting the neighbor’s wife. So the neighbor runs over the bushes and attacks him in a small scuffle, but he dodged it and pushed him through the bushes and what a mess was made of his neighbor that the neighbor called the police. He was told by his relative to leave town, but he did not. He, instead, went to the police station to answer the charges. Eventually, he apologized and the matter was brought to a close.
Dad was almost the same way and to some extent my dad’s demeanor matches his. Dad was always combative specially when we, his children or relatives, were treated unfairly or put to harm. He was unselfish just like Charlie. And my dad had a tattoo, also, on his left thigh which he later burned because he subsequently saw it as unbecoming of a man who was growing old.
My dad was always the tough guy. I remembered when a guy overtook our car, back in Manila, he raced to catch on to the car, pulled our car ahead of it, opened the door to the other car and pulled out the driver and threatened him. I was probably 7 or 8 and I was so rattled that my father would do such a thing. One thing different from Charlie was that he did not apologize. I always saw him doing things threatening and not giving one iota to regret. He never regrets his action.
It was until such time as when I was in my forties, before he died, he said that he regrets not treating me fairly or my family, for that matter. For example, I asked too many questions. He was too immature to notice that in a child, things like asking too many questions were irritating. He failed to give heed to it because he was much more concerned with his own activities than his family. True, he defends his family, but within his family, after he engages us, he goes on his merry way to turn his attention to his own endeavors. (It was much like a father whose concern was his job. He escaped his family to deal with the task at his work.)
But no matter what my father did, he was a good father. Overall, I am like a child who did not realize his value because I was more concerned about my own well-being. Things were such that he did more good things. His bad behavior was a concept of my own immaturity.
Charlie, I believe was like my dad. He was generous, forgiving, decent and respectable regardless of the minor shortcomings. I love dad, not only because he was my father but because he truly personifies the man who regardless of consequence defends us, his family.
*Charlie is another name I made up for a colleague of mine.
Available in:
AuthorsDen.com/paulcuenco
paulcuenco.wordpress.com
predicament-paul.blogspot.com
www.BooksNovelsPoemsJournalsByPaul.com
Other literary work, search Paul Cuenco in:
www.Lulu.com
www.Kindle.com
www.Amazon.com
www.Nook.com
www.BN.com (Barnes and Nobles)
Post a Comment new!
More Blogs by Paul Cuenco
• Predicament: Dave and Annette's Housewarming 2012 - Sunday, September 16, 2012
• Predicament: Portland Sands and its vicinity - Sunday, September 02, 2012
• Predicament: Mississippi Street Fair, Portland, Oregon - Saturday, August 25, 2012
• Predicament: Astoria, Oregon - Friday, August 17, 2012
• New Book for Father's Day! - Saturday, June 23, 2012
• Predicament: Saving Money - Wednesday, May 23, 2012
• Predicament: Old Haunts - Sunday, May 13, 2012
• Predicament: Courteous Portland Traffic - Wednesday, May 02, 2012
• Sorry - Wednesday, April 11, 2012
• Predicament: A Day at the Beach - Thursday, April 05, 2012
• Predicament: Dinner at a Deserted Restaurant - Tuesday, April 03, 2012
• Predicament: My Stroke and Writing - Monday, April 02, 2012
• Predicament: The World of the Bay Area - Sunday, April 01, 2012
• Predicament: A Competitor Indeed - Saturday, March 31, 2012
• Predicament: Democracy! - Friday, March 30, 2012
• Predicament: The Garden Party - Thursday, March 29, 2012
• Predicament: Gift-Giving - Wednesday, March 28, 2012
• Predicament: Suicide - Tuesday, March 27, 2012
• Predicament: Water, Water Everywhere - Monday, March 26, 2012
• Predicament: The Floods Of Manila - Sunday, March 25, 2012
• Predicament: Tita Dimple's recollection of Papa Trining - Saturday, March 24, 2012
• Predicament: The Future Should Be Brighter - Friday, March 23, 2012
• Predicament: Death of a Writer - Thursday, March 22, 2012
• Predicament: The Season Re-liveth - Wednesday, March 21, 2012
• Predicament: Time Had Forgotten About - Tuesday, March 20, 2012
• Predicament: Closing Time - Monday, March 19, 2012
• Predicament: Hasan Baharin - Sunday, March 18, 2012
• Predicament: A Pimple of my Nose - Saturday, March 17, 2012
• Predicament: What is Mike Cooking? - Friday, March 16, 2012
• Predicament: Papa Eriong - Thursday, March 15, 2012
• Predicament: Kind Words - Wednesday, March 14, 2012
• Predicament: Music and Whit 2 - Tuesday, March 13, 2012
• Predicament: Music and Whit 1 - Monday, March 12, 2012
• Predicament: What You Want to Be - Sunday, March 11, 2012
• Predicament: Father and Son - Saturday, March 10, 2012
• Liza's Life Plan - Friday, March 09, 2012
• The Colleague - Thursday, March 08, 2012
• Oh Taylor! - Wednesday, March 07, 2012
• Dena - Tuesday, March 06, 2012
• Losing My Job, Again - Monday, March 05, 2012
• A Plane to Nowhere - Sunday, March 04, 2012
• A Slave No More - Saturday, March 03, 2012
• Cirque du Soleil - Friday, March 02, 2012
• Mendocino - Thursday, March 01, 2012
• Th Coming Storm - Wednesday, February 29, 2012
• Becoming Old - Tuesday, February 28, 2012
• Ordinary Lives - Monday, February 27, 2012
• Books I Read - Sunday, February 26, 2012
• Discrimination - Saturday, February 25, 2012
• Quintessential Jokes - Friday, February 24, 2012
• The Catholic Experience - Thursday, February 23, 2012
• Promises, promises - Wednesday, February 22, 2012
• Sleepy - Tuesday, February 21, 2012
• Art for Art's Sake - Monday, February 20, 2012
• Mike's Ash Wednesday - Sunday, February 19, 2012
• Holy - Saturday, February 18, 2012
• Summer Home - Friday, February 17, 2012
• Pickpocketed - Thursday, February 16, 2012
• A Penny for a Drink - Wednesday, February 15, 2012
• My Roman Holiday - Tuesday, February 14, 2012
• Luck and Popularity - Monday, February 13, 2012
• It's Valentine's - Sunday, February 12, 2012
• Bosses - Saturday, February 11, 2012
• Education and Options - Saturday, February 11, 2012
• Windy Portland - Thursday, February 09, 2012
• My Job at Costco - Wednesday, February 08, 2012
• Compassion - Tuesday, February 07, 2012
• The Day Paul had Two Parties and other things - Monday, February 06, 2012
• When I Die - Sunday, February 05, 2012
• Sleeping and Dreaming - Saturday, February 04, 2012
• The Loneliness of a Country Road - Friday, February 03, 2012
• Jordan - Thursday, February 02, 2012
• Taxes Galore - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
• It's almost Valentines - Monday, January 30, 2012
• Habits We Indulge Ourselves In - Sunday, January 29, 2012
• To Cruise or not to Cruise - Saturday, January 28, 2012
• Blah, Blah, Blah - Friday, January 27, 2012
• Rain - Thursday, January 26, 2012
• Charlie* and Dad - Wednesday, January 25, 2012
• Writing and Being A Writer - Tuesday, January 24, 2012
• True Snow - Monday, January 23, 2012
• Reinvention - Sunday, January 22, 2012
• What I Miss - Saturday, January 21, 2012
• A Gift for Valentine - Thursday, January 19, 2012
• Venerable Mr. Wu - Wednesday, January 18, 2012
• The Snow Storm That Wasn't - Tuesday, January 17, 2012
• The Russians - Monday, January 16, 2012
• The Older Generation - Sunday, January 15, 2012
• What is the other half doing today? - Saturday, January 14, 2012
• Mike's Bird dog Stories - Friday, January 13, 2012
• Dying - Thursday, January 12, 2012
• This Modern Life - Wednesday, January 11, 2012
• Jabberwocky - Tuesday, January 10, 2012
• Marriages and Such - Monday, January 09, 2012
• Poetry in America - Sunday, January 08, 2012
• Old Friendships - Saturday, January 07, 2012
• Clark and a whole of other things - Friday, January 06, 2012
• Being (almost) Late - Thursday, January 05, 2012
• At my Starbucks - Wednesday, January 04, 2012
• The Sandusky Affair - Tuesday, January 03, 2012
• Happy Reading 1 - Monday, January 02, 2012
• New Year 2012 - Monday, January 02, 2012
• A Day with my Nieces - Sunday, January 01, 2012
• To Live and Enjoy Life - Thursday, December 29, 2011
• Goodbye Uncle Paul - Wednesday, December 28, 2011
• It's Hector - Tuesday, December 27, 2011
• Going Home - Thursday, December 22, 2011
• A Night in Copenhagen - Wednesday, December 21, 2011
• Trivia Night - Tuesday, December 20, 2011
• Paul's Novels - Monday, December 19, 2011
• Europe - Sunday, December 18, 2011
• Kimmy, my good friend - Friday, December 16, 2011
• The Sad State of my Affairs - Thursday, December 15, 2011
• Once There was a Mansion - Wednesday, December 14, 2011
• Lauren's Happy Uncle's Day - Tuesday, December 13, 2011
• Santa Claus - Monday, December 12, 2011
• Mike, the Francophile - Sunday, December 11, 2011
• The car that never died, I hope - Saturday, December 10, 2011
• My Christmas Lights - Friday, December 09, 2011
• Small Memories - Wednesday, December 07, 2011
• Owning a Business, Bar - Tuesday, December 06, 2011
• What A Wonderful Day - Monday, December 05, 2011
• My Typical Sunday - Sunday, December 04, 2011
• Steve Jobs book - Saturday, December 03, 2011
• Moving on to Spirit Mountain - Friday, December 02, 2011
|
|
Bookmarks
