the reality of being a dad and growing older

My dear daddy has a first-degree burn on his hand. He got it from carelessly opening a huge indusrial metal pot for boiling water. He was going to wash his office cap with warm water. He knew at the back of his head that it was hot but he still opened the cover. As the burning steam escaped from the pressurized pot, it burned his arm immediately, leaving a reddish mark and an undeniably, piercing pain.

It happened last Friday and I saw it only yesterday. The area just below his wrist (around 5 inches) was red, blistered and it looked really, really painful. I was angry at my dad for being so careless because he’s not like that at all. I grew up with a dad who has always been “smart” when it comes to his every move – always sure, always careful and always thinking before doing. So him burning his hand in so careless a manner was something difficult for me to understand. I ended up nagging him about how and why it happened  and giving him unsolicited advice like I was the grown-up – “Anong nangyari dad? Bakit ka napaso? Alam mo naman na mainit diba? Bakit hindi ka nag-ingat? Masakit? Lagyan natin ng ointment! Wag mo putukin yung blisters! Wag mo laging gagalawin! Sa susunod isipin mo kasi muna Dad.” He told me that yes, he knew that it was hot and he could not remember why he still did it. After that, he just stared at me, like a guilty child. Then it hit me suddenly – my dear daddy was getting older - and I wasn’t  sure I was ready. He’s starting to forget, to lose parts of him. And darn just thinking about it makes me cry. I hate thinking about my dad being careless, losing his things, forgetting important stuff, hurting himself. I always hear parents say they will not allow anything bad to happen to their kids, that they’d rather it happen to them. I believe children have that too. Sigh. How I wish daddies didn’t need to grow older.