Remembering Erpats

Today is the birthday of my Dad, or as Kuys and his friends and brods coined it, Erpats from the Latin word Pater, meaning Father. i miss my Dad.  he wasnt given to much words, but he was deeply caring man.  his word was his honor, and he taught us that honor was one of the most important things a person owns.

Dad graduated from the Philippine Military Academy, and as they say, he was muy pogi (very handsome) and girls were very attracted to him.  (well, my mom was gorgeous so Dad went loco over her)

He was very disciplined, and had, as they say, a mole near the sole of his foot - an indication that he loved to travel.  Oh he did.  He traveled a lot.  Part of the travel was during his army days.  And when he retired, and had gone to the USA (being there helped his asthma) he traveled a lot, too. he didnt drive, but since he was a senior, he had a discounted RTD bus pass and went to all the beaches ... i think, in California.

i only hit a few beaches there .... Long Beach, Venice Beach, and Huntington Beach, to name a few but he went to a lot of beaches and even did some fishing.  i would have wanted to try fishing  but we couldnt find common down time to go fishing....

he loved to tease my mom, who was a bit pikon - perhaps the easiest English translation is .... not teasable?  but he was very very supportive, in all my endeavors.  one of the things he taught me is to finish things that i start.  he said to leave nothing pending.  one might not finish things at once, but once started, must be finished.  i still honor this teaching to this day.

Dad was a strong person, usually quite quiet, and had a wonderful control of his temper.  His kids, that is, us - the family - will always remember his words of wisdom that he imparted to us

Less talk, less error.  No talk, no error.

perhaps not original, but definitely true.  What he really meant was, you just dont blurt out what you think, it has to go through a thinking process, an evaluation, you might say.

Especially true when one is angry, and apt to say things that might be later wished unsaid, but what is said, cannot be unsaid.  Said things are like blossoms in the air, when good ... and stink bombs when not.