Blogs from Jupiter

We celebrated dad’s birthday last week. He is now 78 years old. A few months ago, he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, and was given just a few months to a maximum of two years to live. But so far, things are doing quite well with my dad. Physically, he is frail, and you could really see my dad’s deteriorating health. But spiritually, mentally and emotionally, he is in tip top shape. No amount of human weakness or disease can pin my dad down.

We celebrated his birthday in a hotel suite. My dad’s nieces and nephews and their children (and their children’s children) went to the simple celebration in full force. Most of them were from the family of my late Auntie Nita, a younger sister of my dad who succumbed to cancer some years ago.

He was the happiest seeing them all. Even before my siblings and I were born, my cousins were already grown up. Everytime my dad visited them either in Santa Rosa, Laguna or Mendez, Cavite, they would all run and mob him, excited to see their favorite Uncle Gert. Since my Auntie Nita and husband Uncle Cris passed away, my cousins have considered my dad as their parent. And my dad never failed in filling the shoes left by my aunt and uncle. That is why they were equally devasted when they learned of my dad’s condition.

But so far, so good. We believe that he will be okay despite the fact that he does not want to undergo chemo. I think he still has a long way to go.

A lot of people are praying for him. And of course, we believe that miracles happen.