Sometimes, even little things serve as important reminders of people who have gone ahead of us.
For Senator Grace Poe, a box of coffee reminded her about her father, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ), who would have turned 79 on Monday.
The senator recalled that she went into their kitchen earlier on Monday to get herself a cup of coffee but was told that they had run out of coffee.
In order to just wake up her veins, she went to her kitchen to search for another brand of coffee. Upon checking her kitchen table, there it was, a box of coffee that her father used to drink.
“Kaninang umaga, humingi ako ng kape, sabi ko ‘magkakape na ako’ pero sabi sa akin ng aking kasama, ‘Ay naubos na iyong kape ninyo eh.’ Sabi ko, ‘Naubos na ba? Wala na bang niregalo diyan na pwede nating [magamit], kahit ano na lang?'” Poe said in her speech before FPJ supporters at her father’s tomb at the Manila North Cemetery.
“Pumunta ako doon sa kusina at nakita ko, nakaharap sa akin, andoon nakatabi, ang kape na iniinom ng tatay ko. May nagregalo sakin noon at iyon ang nakabungad sakin,” Poe shared.
The senator doesn’t know why that box of coffee suddenly appeared in the kitchen but she would like to think that it’s her father’s way of “visiting” her.
The senator and her mother — actress Susan Roces, had gone to the cemetery together with family, friends, and supporters to mark the birthday of “Da King,” or the “King of Philippine Movies.”
In her speech, Poe shared that she always asks God to let her father’s inspiration and memory be her guide.
“Sabi ko siguro kahit ngayon na minsan nakakalito kung anong mga gagawin mo, nagdadasal ako sa Panginoon at palagi kong hinihingi na sana yung inspiration at alaala ng aking ama ay maging gabay ko rin,” she said.
Poe thanked FPJ’s supporters for their continued support for their family.
FPJ died on December 14, 2004 after suffering from stroke. /vvp