Father ~ My Sanctuary

The persons who illuminated my path and I

          I have been through a lot in my life, had overcome a lot of challenges but I never really saw who was there for me when my world was falling apart. It was my father.
          My father's name is Jose I. Nazareno. He is just a simple man. He now just works as a commercial lessor, a business man who makes people rent houses. He had already stopped smoking long before and I am proud of that but he still drinks but that's okay since he does it seldom times. He is a brave and strong father like everybody else's. I really don't know my father's story since I am the youngest of the family of 5 where I have two sisters wherein the eldest is 27 or 28 years old I think. I don't remember, I'm not a good sibling. Anyway, he probably grew tired of telling his stories again and again but that's okay since his past doesn't matter and what matters is what he is now and what he has given me in my journey through life.
          Whenever I go home, I have never really felt it until now but he would stay and wait for me downstairs for a long time just for me to arrive home safely. He could just stay upstairs and then wait for me to arrive but he waits for me and then goes out of the gate to greet me and doing a weird dance of some sort but I think he is doing it since he sees that I was tired from school then he would buy what I needed for school and our food for everyday because my mom isn't exactly fond of cooking. When I am doing my homework, he occasionally visits me in the room  then making jokes and doing dances. It really touches my heart that even through his little ways, he does what he thinks he can do to help me. Even if his jokes are corny and his dances are repetitive, that is what I like about him. He never gives up and will still do it until I smile.
          Whenever there is a reunion of some sort, my relatives will often say "Hey, you like your father very much." I would act embarrassed and not agree to them but actually, I am a little proud because my mother always said that my father was very handsome back on his days and she even showed me pictures but that's not all. Whenever they say that I look like him, I feel that I am a good man since I always thought that my father was the best dad ever and it is like I feel that his positive traits are going to me. I really don't know how to describe it.
          When my father went to Canada to celebrate my cousin's debut, it made me feel sad. I tried not to cry when I had to say goodbye to my father when I had to be picked up by my service. I don't want him to feel bad. I didn't have the chance to go to the airport and say goodbye to him. I went through school thinking, my father is not there when I get home and feel numb all over. I might be exaggerating but that was how I felt before then since I never imagined that he would leave my side even for just a period of time. After school ended, the smile that always greeted me when I get home wasn't there. It really felt lonely. The goofy man who did his dances and jokes were not there to enlighten me. I was so glad when I heard that father will go home in an early date. His visa expires i think for more months but he chose to go home early. When we asked the reasons, he would say that he was just getting bored, and that there was nothing to do but I felt that his real reason that he went home early was because he felt that we needed him and that he misses us. I thought that he felt that we needed his support which we actually needed as the house was really feeling lonely. Maybe that's how he felt when he worked overseas before back then when I was just still air then.
I apologize for the mistakes I had made and I thank you for not spanking me when I was a child. He was always happy and supported me through every decision I made. Even though my achievements were low, or even have no achievement at all, he would stand tall and still be proud of me and say "That's my son."
          He may not be the perfect person, but he is the perfect father for me. He may not show it but he really cares for us and I have done the same thing. I haven't really showed him how I feel, how I want to thank him for all of the things he had done. He always puts on a strong face even when I know that something is troubling him but I can't bring myself to help him since I don't want to make his problem worse.
          He gives his best to give us the life he wants us to. To be happy and contented with what we have. When I get older, I want to be just like him. A great  man whose family, his wife and his children, will be and always be proud of. I will always love him and repay back in the future the kindness and hard work he has given me when I was young, at this moment, and the years to come.
          A sanctuary is a place where even when surrounded by danger, you will feel safe and sound. It's a place where we can see the light in our darkest days. He led the way when I was lost, he gave me his light when the way was dark, he believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself. That's why I look to my father as my sanctuary.