The father who 'ran away'

THE INHERENT difficulty of having to visit faraway places because work calls for it resurfaced last week.

I was in Tuao, Cagayan with my principal for two events (the other one was in Diffun, Quirino on our way back to Manila) arranged by Synergeia Foundation. During a break, I called up the house to check if everything was all right, and Pep (aka Hilary), the straight-shooting, most sociable of our four daughters grabbed the phone from her Ate Sofia.

"Ika, dinulagan mo na naman ako," she chided me.

Pep, a five-year old preschooler, usually wakes up late, and I did not have a chance to say my goodbyes as I had to be at the airport early. I always do whenever I take the long busride in the evenings.

So when my travel was extended by a day when I had to do a sidetrip to Cebu, my difficulty was compounded. I hope I made up for the lost time when I brought Pep, Sofie and little Nokie to Sampaguita Department Store for their tights (both are taking dancing lessons at the Ateneo Madrigal Center twice every week) and the toys section of LCC Mall last Saturday.

And of course, there's the thought that our almost missionary work in trying to improve the public school system makes this sacrifice worth every bit of it.