From Manila to Winnipeg: The Visiting Parents
I was going through some old pictures saved in my laptop when I came across some pictures from 2012. Most of these pictures are taken while my Dad and Mom were here in Winnipeg with us. I suddenly missed them and wished that they were still here, especially now that another significant event is happening to our family in June plus my daughter is turning 7 in November.
In July 13, 2012, both my Dad and my Mom came to Canada for a visit. It took me 3 years to convince them to come. When I had my third born, I finally found the right reason to convinced them. It may be a cliché, but really, words are not enough how happy I am when I saw my Dad and my Mom coming down from the elevator of Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. I was teary-eyed when I hugged my parents whom I didn’t see for three years. I remember the looks in my children’s eye, especially from my 2 girls. When they saw their Dad and I hugging my parents, they are really clueless on what was going on around them. My eldest, who was 4 years old when we left the Philippines, somehow remembered his grandparents.
My parents stayed with us for 16 months. Initially, they intend to stay for 6 months only, but on their 5th month, my husband and I convinced them to extend their stay for another 10 months.
I admit that I wasn’t able to bring my parent to a lot of nice places here in Winnipeg when they came, but they were able to witness the 4 seasons that we have, of course, they enjoyed Spring and Summer the most. Their favorite activities was spending the day in the park or going near the lake wit their grandchildren to feed the ducks.
When you have been away from your parents for a long time, you would really appreciate having them around once you get the chance to be with them again. It was exactly how my husband and I felt. It was a big relief to have them around. They saved me from worrying too much about my kids, my husband and I do not need to rush to go home from work to ensure that we reached home before the kids arrive from school and most of all I do not need to think too much how my youngest child is doing with her daycare.
But the most important part of their visit is the chance that my children had to see and meet their grandparents in person, priceless! I remember a time when I was looking at a family while we were at the church, seeing the grandparents looking after the kids and how the kids hugged and kissed them back made me feel sad… and wished that my parents were also with us.
The most beautiful scene for me – going home from work and seeing my Dad and my youngest waiting for me by the doorsteps, there will be even times that they will decide to walk in the street where I walk from work.
When I was still in the Philippines, visiting to my parent’s home every Sunday with my family and having my Mom prepare the table for lunch was a normal thing for my siblings and I… But during the time that, they live with us here in Canada, the days that I wake up with the table already set up for breakfast or whenever I come home from work and my snack are ready as soon as I enter the door --- it is too much for me! And these things I really miss now that it’s just my family and I at home once again.
During their visit, my parents spent most of their time with my now 3 year-old daughter. Both my husband and I will be at work while my other 2 kids are in school. This is why my daughter learned to speak Tagalog fluently. She joined my parents in watching Filipino Teleseryes and TV shows. She will go with them for an afternoon walk at the park or will stay with them at our back yard the whole afternoon.
That is why, if there’s one person who is very much affected with my parents living for the Philippines – it is her, my youngest. It has been 6 months since they left but there will still be times in the morning that she will wake up and looking for his Daddy Dhoe, my Dad. She will tell me or her Dad to call his Daddy Dhoe and tell him to come back soon so he (my Dad) can stay home with her while her Dad and I are at work and she doesn’t need to wake up early in the morning to go to her day care.
Yes, it is a way of life here in Canada, to send your children to the day care while you, the parent works, but, it still breaks my heart whenever my daughter wishes that her grandparents are here with us… just like her I miss my parents too. And if I will have it my way, I will again bring my parents here.
