Willie made me cry again this evening -- in front of our TV. I dislike him. But I like watching his TV show. This evening, I chanced upon his Willing Willie where the contestants are children of Filipina mothers and foreigner fathers. The catch is, these children have been left by their foreigner parents to their Filipina moms.
Yes, the whole thing was mushy. But what struck me was the statement of an American who was among the audience. Willie asked him why he was crying too while the children contestants briefly chronicled their life stories... The American (who is also married to a Filipina) said, "It just makes me sad to see these children being left by their dads. But I just wanna say not all foreigners are like that. Foreigner or Filipinos, I guess dads have to be dads. If they can't be with the mother of their children, at least, they should be there for their kids. By reaching out to them and making them feel they are still there for them, that's what matters most... I have a 5yr-old daughter and I love her so much. I would do anything for her."
When his wife was asked, she revealed, that he is not even her daughter's real father. But he has taken her as his own. So she thanked him -- for loving her, her daughter, and her entire family... Then they kissed... right for the whole world to see.
Theirs though was the only "happy" story of the night. The rest of the six contestants and a few of Willie's dancers revealed an appalling truth about their lives. Beautiful children left by their fathers -- never to be heard from again.
My dad is among them and I and the rest of my siblings are among those deserted children. It does hurt. And for so many times, I admit, it has also become a source of insecurity. I even remember what Dad's stepmom told me in her letter of long ago (when she found out I was already starting a career), "No decent man from a decent family would want to take someone from a broken family for a wife. Ask your father to come home so you will no longer belong to a broken home.."
I am not sure if Lola (God bless her soul) had some kind of a prophetic mind. The past two serious relationships I had failed due to her premonition. But yes, I should write about it in a separate post. Sorry. =)
For now, my heart goes to those children left by their fathers... Those who, like me, had to belong to broken homes -- a truth that they will have to contend with for the rest of their lives.
Meanwhile, I pray their mothers will remain strong the way my Mom held on for us six. Their journey to parenthood will never be easy. Not all of them will, like that Filipina now married to an American, meet/find a man with whom they could spend the rest of their forever with but yes, they will eventually have their happy-endings...
Theirs though was the only "happy" story of the night. The rest of the six contestants and a few of Willie's dancers revealed an appalling truth about their lives. Beautiful children left by their fathers -- never to be heard from again.
My dad is among them and I and the rest of my siblings are among those deserted children. It does hurt. And for so many times, I admit, it has also become a source of insecurity. I even remember what Dad's stepmom told me in her letter of long ago (when she found out I was already starting a career), "No decent man from a decent family would want to take someone from a broken family for a wife. Ask your father to come home so you will no longer belong to a broken home.."
I am not sure if Lola (God bless her soul) had some kind of a prophetic mind. The past two serious relationships I had failed due to her premonition. But yes, I should write about it in a separate post. Sorry. =)
For now, my heart goes to those children left by their fathers... Those who, like me, had to belong to broken homes -- a truth that they will have to contend with for the rest of their lives.
Meanwhile, I pray their mothers will remain strong the way my Mom held on for us six. Their journey to parenthood will never be easy. Not all of them will, like that Filipina now married to an American, meet/find a man with whom they could spend the rest of their forever with but yes, they will eventually have their happy-endings...
Ah, Willie I still hate you. But yes, watching you made me cry...(**sob**) again.
(I love happy endings...even if I'm not on them.)
This was a really lovely written post :) I'm so happy that you have such a strong mother to raise all six of you. It's always extremely upsetting to hear about deadbeat parents who leave their family without a role model and any support at all, but it's uplifting to hear about single parents who continue to rise from the ashes, have a successful life, and raise outstanding children.
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