Time and again I've heard people say that whatever runs in the family will always be passed down to future generations. When your genes beckon you to follow your calling and you opt to ignore them, one way or another the genes will prevail.
Recently, this has held true to my family. It is a fact that I have already served as a President in my Junior Chamber International Chapter in 2007 and also as a Class President when I was an Architecture student back in college. Emi has also served as President of the Student Council in her University of the Philippines Alma Mater as well as a Class President for her XCIX Batch in UP. Despite our backgrounds as Presidents in various organizations, we never pushed this path on our son, Dain Angelo, or Dindin for short. We insisted that he blaze a trail of his own and forge his own legacies based on what he is passionate about.
Imagine my surprise last Thursday evening, arriving home when he nonchalantly told me “There are two students from whom our Class President will be chosen from, and one of them is me”. Dumbfounded was my initial reaction just looking at him eating his dinner while acting as if it meant nothing at all telling me in between spoonfuls of his meal. He then proceeded in relaying that he was supposed to be a candidate for Vice President, but his class adviser, Mrs. Saso, who was also a teacher of mine way back when I was in Grade One, insisted that he be a candidate for the Presidency. I'm not sure if this decision of my/his teacher was one influenced by fond memories of me being a good student back then, but it certainly showed her trust and confidence in my little boy. He said that they would be holding elections the next day, a Friday.
I then proceeded in telling Dindin of how proud I am of this development and as a precaution told him that if it boils down to him losing the elections, nothing would be different about it. I told him I would still be so proud of him nonetheless. I was also very apprehensive of how he would take it if he lost, knowing that if I myself would lose, being the voracious competitor that I am, tend to become quite affected and melancholic of such a situation. But in the end I know that my son is more resilient than I am. He's more street-savvy and quite independent on his own account already. Come Friday morning, as Emi was preparing to accompany him to school, I told her to explain to Dindin that there's nothing wrong in losing. It is how we all learn. Like I said in college; when I lost in my first try into campus politics for the USC Student Council, “In order for one to truly appreciate the sweetness of victory, one has to taste the bitterness of defeat”. After that I won two consecutive terms as Councilor for the USC Supreme Student Council.
Dindin has always been a happy-go-lucky kid. He enjoys life to the fullest. A lot of people have commented how Dindin came to be dark-complexioned when both Emi and I are of the fair complexioned type. How can he not be. He enjoys playing in open spaces, disregarding the heat of the sun. As long as he gets to run around and sweat like there's no tomorrow. He adores beaches and pools. He can stay in the water the entire day despite the heat, not minding if his skin becomes all prune-like and he ends up looking like a gigantic raisin or ending up looking like a black statue with only his teeth and eyes discernible in his physique. As long as he's in his element.
Indeed genes have begun to make its mark in Dindin's life. I felt that this opportunity in his life would prove to be a defining moment for him. He's been telling both of us that he's ready to assume bigger responsibilities and is ready to become a kuya. Hahaha. He's resilient, intuitive, shy and quite head-strongly stubborn. Just like his mom. As they were about to leave for school, I gave a parting shot to Dindin; “No matter what happens, our level of love for him will remain the same”.
The day went about smoothly. I even forgot about his elections as mid-day came and passed amid a ton of workload at the office. Then in the afternoon, I got a call from Emi relaying the ecstatic news. “I won!” Dindin exclaimed. As if on cue, an overwhelming gush of pride and happiness burst forth from my feelings and I immediately insisted on talking to him. I told him congratulations many times over and asked him how he felt. In true Dindin fashion, he simply uttered the words “Happy” and “Fine”. He won by the slimmest of margins, 17-16. With the thought of him possibly voting for himself which could have resulted in the marginal vote gnawing at the back of my mind, I questioned him about him. He flatly and forcefully replied “No”. All the more pride swelled in me. Hahaha. My son has principles, honor and respect for his co-protagonist.
Imagine, my son, at the tender age of nine in his Grade Three section, already a Class President. Heck, the best I could muster as a Grade School Student was as Sergeant-At-Arms for our classroom. It was only in College where my real passion of handling the leadership reins got developed. He's starting to blaze a trail and establishing his own legacies one day at a time. He's slowly learning how to handle responsibility and leadership at such a young age. Emi and I have teased each other on how he can be such a bundle when he becomes a teenager. We acknowledge the fact that Dindin is twice better than both of us. Sometimes it scares me. Hahaha.
As he begins to trod the path in his first foray in leadership, both Emi and I are very very confident that he'll do fine. Like I said, as much as possible, we won't impose anything on him on how he should do things. He will always learn by doing. If he stumbles, he will learn to get up. We're confident that this new mantle of leadership will steel further his character. He's still quite shy. Maybe as President, he will learn to come out of his shell and will learn to shine. It is no secret that ever since he got elected, I don't shirk at the possibility of bragging how my son can now be called “Mr. President”. We are now, officially, a Family of Presidents.
