The truth will set you free

Now I know how it feels to hide something from your parents. You don’t really call it lying—you’re simply postponing the announcement until, well, a suitable time. But the longer you wait, the harder it gets. It’s as if the sense of need to tell the plain and simple truth fades away with time.

For instance, my friend didn’t tell his parents he shifted courses. He had a sudden change of heart after his second year in UP. He wanted to do something different with his life. He feared his family might get disappointed with him the moment they knew. My advice was, “Tell them. I’m sure they’ll understand.” But he didn’t—until after two years. I’m glad everything went well for him.

My dilemma was far less problematic—it was trivial, in a sense. I lost my camera, and I was waiting for the right time to tell my parents about it. Initially I asked my brother to call them up. In the middle of his law school updates, he could say something like, “Oh, by the way, Lance lost his camera the other day.” That would make them mad, of course. What did they do to raise a stupid boy who always loses everything—his phone, his common sense, and now his camera? But that would dissipate some of their anger when I’d call them myself two days after. Then life would be SO much easier.

That was my illusion. But my brother never budged. “You owe it to them. You tell them yourself. Hala!” Manong said, grinning.

I waited for another week, then a few days more. Then today, it occurred to me that my waiting would never end. I prayed that the Lord give me wisdom and truth in telling them about it—it was my fault that I lost the camera. No question about that.

And guess what? Today I did. “Tatay?”

“Yes?”

“I have good news and bad news for you. Which do you wanna hear first?” My father was laughing at the other line. He liked the good news first, so I told him.

“And now the bad news—I lost my camera.”

“O, camera lang naman pala, eh. Bakit mo nawala?” I told him.

“Eh di bili ka na lang ng bago. ‘Yung mas malaki na.”

The lesson: don’t lose your camera. Hahaha. But seriously, it’s this: tell the truth at the appropriate time, but don’t wait too long, don’t waver, lest you forget.

Now that’s a load off my shoulder. And life feels so much better.