Thank you all for being with us during this difficult time of our life. It is written, Each of us lives for 70 years, or even 80 years if we are in good health."(Psalm 90:10).
Our father D.Blanco loved life and was passionate about it that God, in his abounding grace, gave him 83 years of good and meaningful life on this earth.
Our father was a man of strong character and commanded respect, not only from us his children, but also from almost our entire neighbourhood back in the Philippines and also here in Australia from all who knew him. He was in general, a serious man. However, I remember one of my first cousins, used to say about my father, "When Tio Del smiles, it is as if the heavens were opened."
As a policeman and being the son of a US Scout Ranger, our father had been a strong disciplinarian. He expected us, his children, to be good and law-abiding citizens. He did not want us to ever get in trouble with the law of the land. That's why from the time we were born, he carefully thought out what names he would give us, most particularly my brothers. Unlike most boys in or country with names ending with an "o," such as Mario, Alfredo, my brothers names were Abner, Nimrod, Rommel and DÁrtagnan. He said if our names were common and the same as anybody else's. chances are we could become victims of mistaken identity. Also, unlike most of the youth in 1960s who sport the Beatle hair, my brothers were not allow to grow their hair long.When we were children, my father, in his best parenting effort assigned my siblings and I chores to do around the house and garden. He wrote each of our names in a blackboard with a corresponding chore next to it, noncompliance of which, meant a corresponding dose of discipline by rod or belt.
Reflecting on this over the years, as we grew older, we realised our father was training all of us 1) to become disciplined and responsible people and 2) to be mature and to be accountable for our actions. He always stressed, "wrong choices often result to bad consequences."
Like all parents, our father cared to give us a better life. I remember those years when we lived in a small house, which if not by God's protecting hand, could have been blown down by a long and strong typhoon called 28 de Mayo," by the locals, and how he , with the support of my mother, built a house of strong materials with 15 foot high ceiling and many wide windows.
I remember also he had set apart one room in our house to become a library because, like himself, he wanted us to read and develop a habit of it. One of the books in our library then was Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories, which he read to us each night when he wasn't working night shift. I remember also the many times he sang to us, while playing on the guitar, You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You made me happy when skies are grey."
By the same token, I remember the many times he sang to us "Pulisyang Pambansa," at the end of which he would blow his police whistle. [I posted a video with this song as soundtrack and I am also sharing it here:
However, the first movie we all watched as a family was The Ten Commandments, after which he took us to a Chinese restaurant where we all ate hot noodles and steam buns.
Besides taking us to Chinese restaurant, he always took us to Max Fried Chicken. He did not take us to Magnolia House because ice cream here was costlier, but regularly took us to a nearby ice cream parlour called La Filipina where we all ate as much ice cream as we wanted.
When we, all his children grew up and lived separate lives, our Father was still always there to us giving us all the support he could give when we were downcast and or having problems of many kinds. He continually gave us advice and said prayers for all of us.
He mellowed over the years. He ceased to become the strict father we once had. He became our friend and adviser. He, as well as our mother, served as our inspiration to become achievers. He still said, as he had always said to us when we were kids, there is no limit with what we can do, there is no limit with what our brains can learn.
Practising this himself, even up to the 83 years he had lived on this earth, our father never ceased to read newspapers, books and magazines to develop himself and keep abreast of the latest world news. He read regularly the Bible and also thick books on alternative medicine and general knowledge. Till his death, his mind was as sharp as a needle.
One thing I would always remember my father for, was his love for gardening. I watched him work with pleasure and precision in the garden. Up to that time his mobility decreased, still he would work in the garden, bit slow yes, but he'd put all his efforts to walk out in the garden, turn on the tap and sit on his chair while he watered his plants.
It was amazing that even in his old age, he still planted fruit trees--even if he knew he would not live to see them grow and bear fruit...
My other siblings have their own words to remember our father. All of us, however, would say in our father's final life's journey, he will forever remain alive in our hearts
Yes our father was strict and serious. However, he had always made time, besides singing to us, to read stories or tell jokes which made us laugh. When we were so keen to see a movie, he watched the film first, scrutinised it, to be 110% sure, the film was good and wholesome to children. The movies that were approved by the board of censor which constituted only himself were The Sound of Music, Chitty Bang Bang and Snow White.
However, the first movie we all watched as a family was The Ten Commandments, after which he took us to a Chinese restaurant where we all ate hot noodles and steam buns.
Besides taking us to Chinese restaurant, he always took us to Max Fried Chicken. He did not take us to Magnolia House because ice cream here was costlier, but regularly took us to a nearby ice cream parlour called La Filipina where we all ate as much ice cream as we wanted.
When we, all his children grew up and lived separate lives, our Father was still always there to us giving us all the support he could give when we were downcast and or having problems of many kinds. He continually gave us advice and said prayers for all of us.
He mellowed over the years. He ceased to become the strict father we once had. He became our friend and adviser. He, as well as our mother, served as our inspiration to become achievers. He still said, as he had always said to us when we were kids, there is no limit with what we can do, there is no limit with what our brains can learn.
Practising this himself, even up to the 83 years he had lived on this earth, our father never ceased to read newspapers, books and magazines to develop himself and keep abreast of the latest world news. He read regularly the Bible and also thick books on alternative medicine and general knowledge. Till his death, his mind was as sharp as a needle.
One thing I would always remember my father for, was his love for gardening. I watched him work with pleasure and precision in the garden. Up to that time his mobility decreased, still he would work in the garden, bit slow yes, but he'd put all his efforts to walk out in the garden, turn on the tap and sit on his chair while he watered his plants.
It was amazing that even in his old age, he still planted fruit trees--even if he knew he would not live to see them grow and bear fruit...
My other siblings have their own words to remember our father. All of us, however, would say in our father's final life's journey, he will forever remain alive in our hearts
