On National Siblings Day

via Instagram

Eight days after Tatay passed away, my brothers and I tried to make sense of our grief by visiting the fruit stands along the highway, where Tatay loved to buy pineapples, papayas, mangoes, and watermelons for Nanay. I see so much of my father in my brothers, Manong Ralph (@arveecee) and Sean (@seancatedral)—his pot-bellied tummy, self-deprecating humor, extreme adherence to punctuality. I am grateful to have grown up with them.