That title is, for me, the essence of son #1’s eulogy (fond remembrances) at Tony’s wake.
He was six years old when Voltes V, a Japanese anime TV series, became popular in the Philippines. He and his friends (who were at the wake) became fans of this new craze. Tony thought it would be a perfect motif for his birthday cake.
As son #1 reminisced, his friends must have gone into nostalgia as they nudged each other.
Voltes V grew into a cultural phenomenon in the Philippines and pretty soon tiny replicas of this crime buster was sold in stores. Tony would buy them for his panganay (eldest son). Then marketing men thought of making more money—a 24-foot replica was a marketing novelty.
From that day forward, panganay narrated, he would nag his dad to buy him one. Son #2 kept reminding him, “That’s expensive!” Still panganay was persistent, almost daily.
Many months later, Tony came home with the 24-foot treasure! “It was a day of rejoicing,” panganay said. He proudly showed it to his friends and for the following weeks, they enjoyed playing with it.
Why would Tony delay giving it? Son #1 realized years later that the replica cost P700. And Tony’s salary at that time was P600.
He surmised that his father would never deny him what he wanted, but it took time for him to save for it.
I bawled.
I remembered the growing-up years of our three sons. My album of photos are my memories of grace, but my boys remember more through their close encounters with their father.
Again, as with all the other eulogies, this was one more facet of Tony’s heart I glossed over, because he never belabored any issue.
It took a wake for son #1 to share his fond memories of his father "who never failed to provide" (his words, not mine).
P.S.
That Voltes V replica had long been thrown away because it got mangled by the boys beyond recognition. Now, guess how much a pre-owned one would cost today? P71k!
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