It has taken me a long while to put my thoughts together for this one

special piece, a lot of scrap papers turned scrap papers again, a lot of time
asking my fellow graduates what they’d say if they were in my place, a
handful of time thinking whether or not I should just copy another
person’s speech on the internet, a lot of reminders that it’s about time I
submit a draft, a lot of complaints, a bunch of alibis, a handful of
whining….it would seem a long and tedious journey for me just so I can
face you today and deliver this speech…but truthfully, these so called
hardships are nothing--nothing compared to what certain someones,
certain God-given creatures have endured for such a long, long time now.
Let us take a short trip down memory lane.
Back in our primary school days, our teachers would always ask us to
introduce ourselves—and during those times there was no better way to let
them get to know our background than to say: AKO PO SI…ANAK
NINA GINOO AT GINANG, ENGINEER, O DOKTORA. We never had
a problem in boasting about our parents then, what they do, how they are
like, and most importantly, how we would like to be so much like them.
We never had a problem giving them a hug or a kiss even in front of our
classmates. We never had a problem saying THANK YOU or I LOVE
YOU. We never thought twice of telling them of what happened during
the day or how we had a crush on this boy or girl in school. We never even
bothered even if we would be spending the whole vacation with them. We
never dared to get into their bad side nor answer them back when being
scolded.
But the tables have turned now that we are already grown-ups. It is so
much easier now to argue with our parents, thinking that are reasons are
more logical. It is so much easier now to blame our parents even for the
most trivial of matters like giving us their flat nose or dark skin genes that
we couldn’t just fit in. It is so much easier now to hang on longer to every
text message or call our boyfriends or girlfriends send or give us rather
than give a single thought on replying to our parents’ usual queries “Musta
ka na nak?”, “Ayos naman ba ang school?”. It is so much more convenient
to just go and lock ourselves in our room and blast our ears with rock
music than share our day with them, when in truth it’s our daily life stories
that they’re looking forward to after a hard day’s work. It is so much of a
big deal when our parents practically drag us out of the house just so we
can have lunch or stroll with them at the mall, but it’s no big deal if our
peers sent us so much as a text invite to a house party. It is so much easier
to give them our puppy eyes when we need cash or anything else rather
than give them the same puppy eyes to say “I’m sorry”. It is so much
easier to tell them that we have tons of homework to do just so we can do
away with our chores. It is a whole lot easier to tell them that schoolwork
is cramping up most of our schedule than spending quality time with them.
It s a lot easier to voice out our frustrations to our friends than to those
whom we treated us our diaries way back then. It is so much easier to do
that special someone’s homework or any other favor rather than allot a
short time to teach your parents on how to use the internet. It is so much
easier to tell the class or post a shoutout that taking up this course is “my
parents’choice” without even considering that it was “with our consent”.
We were geared to be nurses, and nurses they say are trained to be
empathic, to be able to understand the situation form that very person’s
point of view. But here’s the catch, nurse or no nurse, we can surely define
and enumerate what a parent should do but we will surely have a hard time
understanding what a parent’s role truly is as most of us have not taken
that post yet—for without us being parents, we wouldn’t truly understand
the excitement of seeing our children blow the candle on their cake, the
pride of seeing our children receive their first medal or march towards
their diploma. Without us being parents we wouldn’t truly understand how
it feels to wait for our sons or daughters to come home without any
knowledge as to where they are. Without us being parents we would have
a hard time understanding why curfews are to be set, why they give love a
bad name at this time, why they want us to take the warnings “drink
moderately” and “cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health” so
seriously. Without us being parents, we could not truly comprehend why
the constant nagging is necessary, or why they have to share a bank
account with us. Without the instinct of a parent, we wouldn’t feel the pain
of being the last to learn about what’s bothering our children or worse, to
know that we are to blame for it. Without us being parents, we wouldn’t
truly understand the joy of having our children come home after a while.
Without us being parents, we wouldn’t feel the anger, the anguish of
seeing our children crying their eyes out for some no good person out
there, or hearing our children consider themselves a failure. Without us
being parents, we wouldn’t understand the fuss, the concern when my
child is sick—even with a simple cold. Without us being parents, we
wouldn’t have that compelling need to trade our rest day or our favorite
movie just so our children get what they want in the end. Without us being
parents, we wouldn’t understand the unending drive to work late hours just
so everything is provided for—from the basics to that new cellphone or
PSP game our children solely crave for. Without us being parents, we
wouldn’t know what sacrifice and unconditional love truly means.
Though we only had a glimpse of what our parents have been through and
are still going through, although their shortcomings have been evident, this
graduation ceremony but pay tribute to them who never gave up on us
despite our stubbornness, who gave up part of themselves in exchange of
our dreams, who tried their best to give us the finer things in life, who
gifted us with the golden opportunity to get the best education there is. In
this light, well what more is there to say, regardless of us being converted
into an alien to you of some sort or a clone of your child minus the
attitude, behind this tough exterior, this façade of being the black sheep of
the family, this mask of arrogance and indifference, this alcohol- and
nicotine-drenched system, this party girl or party boy gimmick—behind
all these is the child you raised and loved unconditionally, the child whom
you are proud of and who will continue to strive to uphold your name, the
child who in all sincerity will say at this moment—“ Ma, Pa, Nay, Tay,
Mom Dad, Nang, Tang malapit ko nang maipatayo iyong hacienda mo,
kaunting tiis na lang po. Salamat sa lahat. Mahal na mahal ko kayo.”