Starting out with a bang

July always seems to start off with a bang with Lolo's birthday and Independence Day rolled together. My dad turned sixty and mom threw a big surprise party. If you know the Cazins and our parties, "big" by US standards is the Filipino norm. 100 people. Sometimes more. Let's be honest, my family doesn't do anything small scale.We rocked out fifties style and I was expecting the Jets and the Sharks to have a show down on the dance floor. There were poodle skirts and Rizzo, James Dean and June Cleaver look-a-likes.

 

 Lolo's family from California: Tito Ricky, Tita Rowee & Tita Mila

Regarding Ella's changing hair color, this is what I hear from my family: "Para Americana!" or "She's a white Kay."

I think my dad is the best, so I had to include my speech from the party.

Simply said, I have the best father. He started from humble beginning in the Philippines. Worked hard to put himself through school. When working at Meralco in the Philippines, he met a girl named Estela in the company commissary. Butch wanted to marry her, but she was heading to the United States and said she wouldn't marry him until he finished college. So Estela started a new journey in the US and they wrote letters to each other until one day when he called her and told her to come home. He finished college and it was time to get married. And as the saying goes, the rest is history. 

When Dad first came to the US he started out as a clerk at Nichols slowly working his way up, adding more jobs to his schedule. JC Penney's, St. Luke's Eye Clinic to his current love of real estate. Until I was in college, Dad always had two jobs. He once told me that even as a child living a poor life he always thought that inside of him was something more. And that drove him to work hard and eventually get to where he is today: successful and an example of the American dream.



Because of my parents, we had a great childhood. There are many stories especially fun ones like my sister and I pushing the old Honda on early mornings on the way to school while Dad steered because it would stall out in the cold. Sometimes the door wouldn't latch and whoever sat in front had to hold it shut. We would complain about our freezing hands, and he would yell, "Where are your gloves?!"

Or the first thing out of his mouth in the morning was , "Psht. Put on your socks." I think we were the only catholic kids on the street that wore their navy blue knee socks with their pajamas.


But what I remember most is that he made us breakfast EVERY morning. Always. And he still does when we visit. My whole life he has always been there for us, he always put us first. From when I was a baby to the present. There is a quote I found...


"100 years from now it will not matter what your back account was, the sort of house you lived in or the kind of car you drive. But the world may be different because you were important in the life of your child."


Thank you dad. Your life is an inspiration to me. The foundation of your love has shaped me as a person, wife and mother. You are a fantastic father and now a great friend. You are an important part of my life and I am filled with joy that you are an important part of my children's lives.