This picture was taken with my baba (dad) 2 hours before the birth of my twins
Already the middle of June is just days away, and Father’s Day seems to be right at our doorstep. I’m really excited to partner with Hallmark at Walgreens again. This time I’m sharing what my baba (dad) means to me and all that makes my dad impactful in my life. As mentioned previously I grew up with my grandmother and did not live with my biological parents and siblings until I was ten.
Although I was not with my parents everyday since birth I do recall seeing them occasionally, especially the moments with my dad. I remember as a little girl, probably around 6 or so, I would sit on his lap and tweeze his stubby face. Yes, for a Chinese man, my dad is quite hairy! Those are the tender moments that I still remember to this day. Whenever I see my twins sit on his lap and read a book with him I would have a huge grin on my face because it brings back happy memories.
When I started living with my biological family it was awkward, especially when I was going through puberty. I would be lying if I didn’t admit to feeling abandoned as a little girl. I already felt like I was not communicating well with my mom and the relationship with my dad was worse.
You see, I was an accident. My mom didn’t know she was pregnant with me until I kicked her belly – I was about 6 to 7 months in her womb. She was breastfeeding my eldest sister at the time and having an unplanned baby on the way threw them off financially, and with my dad being away most of the time that didn’t help either. My parents, especially my dad, worked very hard to put food on the table, so we didn’t get the kind of time that I would have liked with him.
Years later they would have 3 more kids and that was even more challenging for my parents, especially for my dad. While my mom was 3 months pregnant with my youngest sister, my dad decided to uproot his family to a foreign land, U.S, so that we can have better education and hopefully, leading to better lives. I can’t imagine how tough that must have been for any man who didn’t speak the local language to get a decent job, yet still had to provide for his family.
With 7 of us living in a 700 sq. ft 2 bedroom rental, it was crowded and chaotic. Although it was tough financially, my parents sent us to after school programs to improve our English and Chinese. Almost everyday and on weekends my dad would drive us and wait for us in the car until our classes were over.
While living with my family, I got to know my siblings, mom, and dad quite well. I became aware how intelligent, determine, thorough, giving, and funny my dad can be. What I admire most about him is that he never ceases to learn new things. Those positive qualities really impacted my life and the decisions I had made along the way which influenced the person I am today. But I didn’t realize how impactful my dad was to my life until the twins were born.
My dad helped out around our home from throwing the trash and snaking the plumbing to changing diapers and feeding the twins. He was surprisingly better than my mom in terms of caring for the boys. He has not stopped since, well he stopped throwing the trash but not looking and caring for the boys. So, it’s no surprise that he’s the only person that both hubby and I trust to babysit the boys whenever we need help.
So for Father’s Day I wanted to show how special my baba is to me and how much I appreciate all that makes him an amazing dad and now grandfather to my kids. I found this card from Hallmark at Walgreens that reads, “You’re such an important part of our family,” and no doubt I couldn’t have expressed that better. The fact is, he is an important part of our family and will always be.
Thank you Hallmark at Walgreens for partnering with me to share my story for the #HallmarkAtWalgreens #CardForDad campaign.
