How far can your love go? Most of us are willing to traverse great distances for our loved ones. Others are willing to sacrifice time. Each love language is different, and we discovered what this man does for his loving family.
SJ Duque, a student from the University of the East – Caloocan, frequently encounters Kuya Percy, a watch guard of the institute. Quite notorious, as Duque would describe, Kuya Percy is quite the disciplinarian to students who don’t follow school regulations, particularly with the dress code.
It was only to Duque’s discovery that despite his stern and disciplinarian ways, there’s a soft heart deep inside.
Duque shares on her Facebook page her short encounter with Kuya Percy, and it will touch you. Bring out those tissues.
The post’s rough translation:
7’o clock in the evening.
At this time, most families are having their dinner. Some, on the other hand, are lounging on the couch watching the latest news. But for the case of Kuya Percival, 56 years old, he has no kitchen or living room to go home to, filled with neither laughter nor stories to share.
All there is – is a small apartment, a mango in a plastic, and hope at the end of a long week of work that he’d be able to reunite with his family again.
7’o clock in the evening.
It was time for Kuya Percy to clock out for his 2pm duty. A loose neck tie, carrying a plastic with food inside, a wide smile – it’s far from how he is being identified as a notorious watch guard at the University of the East – Caloocan. Even for me, who often doesn’t follow the uniform code of the school, he also has his own tales calling out students who fail to comply such.
“I still need to wash my uniform, Ate,” Kuya Percy told me when I asked him if I could interview him.
Kuya Percy only goes home weekly. Unlike others, who work only half a day, he does not have a spouse to rely on to prepare food for him when he gets home. He doesn’t have a son or daughter that could affectionately greet him when he arrives and request to massage his tired legs after a long day of work. A Bulacaño native (San Rafael), he only goes home every Saturday evening to his family – it’s a small sacrifice, according to him, “you just have to get used to it”.
The eldest child of Kuya Percy already moved out. His second child is a seaman, and his youngest is a grade 12 student. Needless to say, his wife and youngest child are the only ones he has when he goes home.
Bulacan really isn’t as far from Caloocan, nor does it take hours to reach to his home. There are 168 hours in one week – if 132 hours is spent working plus the time he’s not in Bulacan, to sum it all up, he lacks around 30 hours to spend with his wife and youngest child.
When did ‘lacking’ become ‘enough’? For Kuya Percy, one day is already enough for them. To cook, clean the house, bond as a family, go to church – this is the price Kuya Percy has after a week of work. Definitely lacking, yes. But to him, what makes it worth it is a family filled with love at the center.
“I really miss it… I really miss it.”
Sometimes, Kuya Percy sees his children in the students of UE. Sometimes disobedient, but deep inside there’s a touch of affection. You just have to go with the flow, he said. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of proper discipline.
Perhaps, Kuya Percy looks at the students that he reprimands as his own children. For every “wear your ID”, “fix your ribbon, ate” and “where’s your uniform, kuya?” there is a father deep inside that also wishes that he were to discipline his own child. Come to think of it, he spends more time with these strangers than his own family.
It’s already 7 in the evening.
Kuya Percy has no family to go home to.
However, he is all smiles – jokingly mentions that there is laundry waiting for him – as if 132 hours of sadness and tiredness is nothing.
He’ll see his family on Saturday, anyway.
And for Kuya Percy, that’s already enough.
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Disclaimer: WheninManila.com does not own the image. Credits go to SJ Duque.Â
