Father's Day, Four Years Ago

I am reprinting this post that I made at my Multiply site in memory of my father, who passed away last April 26, 2011. You can find the original article by following this link.

This was written when I was in Hong Kong, doing my post-residency training. I kind of feel a tad guilty that I have not written about my father so much.

I wish for him to be happy, wherever he is now.

HAVE YOU GREETED YOUR FATHER LATELY?
from vgsamson.multiply.com, photo from the same site
(June 17, 2007)

I just did, through SMS. Sending him e-mail from my part of the world would not be feasible, since he never uses the computer, much less surf the internet.

And what did he say in return? His response was very typical of him, being a man of a few words: Tnx.

At 66, my father is not as young as he wishes to think he is. (In the orthopaedic world, however, 66 is still young. Trust me.) It’s all in that face of his. In spite of the fact that he had a stroke 8 years ago, his demeanor, save for minor wrinkles and alternating white hair, remains as youthful as ever. The world turns at a rapid pace, but the world that he knows takes it easy, and for him it seems that the only reminder that time goes by is the tome of photographs of people, living and dead, who surrounded him at any given point in his life. Nothing wrong with that: people do tend to be nostalgic (he always does) especially when there is a lot to recount in the past.

I just wish that he’d stop smoking like a fiend….

It is Father’s Day today, and next month it’s going to be his birthday. For geographic reasons I will not be able to visit him this year. I now owe him some visits. Should pay him one as soon as I get home.