"Hearing His Laughter"

"Hearing His Laughter"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

3 months or less. That was the amount of time I would have each year with my Dad when I was growing up. So it was always a race to get to know him , it was a race adjusting to life with him and then life without him again. And growing up I had the knack to make people around me laugh and it always frustrated for me back then that I don't know any joke or situation that could make him crack a smile.And in my book you did not understand a person enough if you cannot make them laugh. Everybody laughs. I just could not get my dad to laugh.

And so it was one of those nights where we just hung out and watched a Going Bananas show.(if you don't know what that is then you are too young for this story). 

And Jay Ilagan(still alive back then) played an announcer who said , "At ngayon ang kampeon ay magbibigay ng isang bokal solo!!!" The curtains opened to reveal a very bald man and he began to sing.

My dad looked at this.And he laughed. He laughed so hard he shook and he held his stomach and laughed some more. He laughed for about a minute. Stopped and laughed again. He didn't even notice that I was there. When he finally stopped he looked at me and said. "Yan. Yan ang nakakatawa."

And I felt like I understood more about him that day. Here is to you Dad on your birthday. I miss your laugh even though I did not hear much of it. It still rings in my ears.