Today is your birthday!

Thank you for taking over when Tatay passed away.  (It’s still hard to accept that you had to take over, but eh, that’s life.  What can we do but take it right?)

Thank you for always going to the market for our meals.

Thank you for always picking me up (also Bunso) even though you really hate that I always have to be picked up at the most inconvenient time in the most inconvenient places.

You’re a husband now, but in my head, you’re still that kid that waited for me by the emergency room and asked me, “Ate, what do we do?” You were 26 then, but I could have sworn you looked 8.

I will always be your Ate.  No matter how many times life forces us to speed by, makes us mature sooner than later, older with every grain of sand that hits our faces.

(I say this because Daniel doesn’t seem to age, so this doesn’t apply to him.)

A lot of people have come up to me and expressed their admiration for you when you took on the role of being the head of a family.  Each time they say that though, I get confused.  It’s not like you looked at the love of your life and saw her and her beautiful daughter as an option.  They were clearly the only choice, and that, my brother, so far, has been the best choice you’ve made in your life.

I knew it then, and all the more, now.

You were raised by a man who has never shied away from responsibility and obligation.  So people should not be surprised by how you came to be.

But then again, they didn’t know Sir Boy.

So yeah.  Keep making choices as good as the last one.

Happy birthday.