BOY MEETS DAD

You know the saying: 'You were at the right place at the right time.'

What does that really mean?

What I find interesting is that we give "luck" too much credit for the amazing things that happen in our lives. Luck is described as a purposeless, unpredictable, and uncontrollable force that shapes events favorable for an individual. Wait a moment - a force of chance, accident, a possibility, fluke? So, basically, the amazing things that happen in our lives are being credited to a force that is so incidental that it just happens.

I think not!

I find that difficult to believe, especially when a moment begins to unfold into something extraordinary beyond our imagination. Life becomes better, and from that moment on, we are on a path that leads to something incredible. That to me is more than luck or coincidence but what I like to attribute to the forces of divine design.

Issac Newton describes 'force' as a "push or pulls upon an object resulting from the object's interaction with another object." Luck is not a force. Luck is luck, and it does happen... or does it really? You can be the judge of that. But what I'm trying to say is being in the right place, at the right time or a moment or series of moments that make life wonderful cannot just be luck.

I do believe it is a force, a force, or a power that is Heavenly. A power that is guiding us by design to reach our potential and find comfort in troubled times. But don't give those amazing experiences when life's direction leads to something phenomenal, to just mere luck.

The moment where my life was directed by a Heavenly force was on a beautiful sunny day on a beach of the Philippine coastline.

Carmen was working as a store clerk at a printing press company and making about twenty pesos a day, which is equivalent to fifty cents in US currency. She tried her best to provide the necessities of life for her fifteen-month-old Eguniño, even though finances were tough to come by. Carmen, still living with her family, was able to gain a bit of help and support from them. But this was only after they were able to meet the needs of their own families, so little help and means were rarely available. Life was tough in this poverty-stricken country and especially tricky for a young widowed mother of a year-old child, with a below-average job, living in a chantey home and with minimal means. 

(Let me put this into perspective) 

Most of her family, including herself, only had one pair of clothing and one pair of shoes. Clothing was at it's minimalist, not by choice but more of necessity. She could not afford diapers because the food was more of a need than having a baby running around covered up. With only a couple of cloth diapers, Eguniño had absolutely nothing on most days. He was a child with his own free will and free-spirited charm that he expressed well with his bare bottom, as nature had intended it. 

Simple things such as laundry were done when someone had free time to do this by hand. With everyone working whenever and wherever laundry rarely got done. With that being the case, it was usually hard to have clean linens around. In most cases, it was easier to clean up a mess from a child than continually washing the couple of cloth diapers Carmen had for her son. Which would make the environment unsanitary, but what else could be done? As painful and unbelievable, we may think this lifestyle to be, the Basco family was able to do all it gracefully. They were extremely grateful for what they had and for what they were blessed with, regardless of the humble situation. 

On an early summer's day, the printing press company that Carmen was working for had a potluck get together on the shores of the Ilocos Region in Luzon in the province called La Union. Wherever Carmen went, she usually had her little shadow following her. With no means to pay for a babysitter and family working, the only option she had was to take little Eguniño everywhere she went. Eguniño wanted to explore the world and usually wandered around, not giving it any thought what mom was doing. So much for a shadow!

Most children have that itch to examine the unknown and test the curiosity of the mind. They're in their own world and trying to make sense of all the nuances the world can provide. When they realize their tiny legs can travel, nothing can stop them from venturing off. The world is an oyster to a child, and everything is new and exciting. So, that's what this little Filipino boy did... he set out to explore the beautiful shores of this humid utopia.

A man by the name of Ellis Garner was on an extended vacation in the Philippines. Being a retired professional truck driver, he decides to visit a friend named Ron, who was in the process of building an apartment complex in Manila. Ellis was born in Springfield, Missouri and is a product of The Great Depression, poverty was nothing foreign to him.

The Great Depression was a severe economic era in North America, Europe, and other industrialized areas of the world that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. Although being raised in the hardest economic downturn in the history of western culture, Ellis was able to make the best out of life.

He had dropped out of high school at an early age and only completed a tenth-grade education. He never really found school much of a solution to the economic turmoil at the time. He, therefore, decides to become independent from life and his family in Missouri and explore the world on his own.

Traveling as a vagabond around the United States he worked all sorts of different jobs, such as: picking Apples in the orchards of Washington, being a farmhand wherever there was work, construction, real estate and eventually saved enough to learn how to drive semi-trucks.


Starting off with nothing but the clothing on his back he learned how to work, earn a decent wage and save all he could to secure himself a future of certainty in a world with a lot of uncertainties. He appreciated the value of work and knew the meaning of money but was also very generous and kind. He gave a lot of his time and means to help others. With a giving heart and a genuine personality, he was liked by many who came in contact with him.

He became successful through a lifetime of hard work but also learned life lessons through trial and error. It was a difficult life for Ellis, especially living during the era of the great depression. In his later years, he took advantage of retirement to relax and enjoy the world.  Being a lover of the outdoors and having a passion for exploring, he would go on many of ventures such as fishing, camping, hiking, traveling, and thoroughly enjoyed his walks in the open air.

During the summer of 1983 Ellis decides to visit a friend and enjoy life on a tropical paradise called the Philippines. Much to his surprise, his short visit turned out to become a home. Experiencing the culture and the area he buys a flat next to the US Clark Air-force Base located on Luzon Island just north of San Fernando.

This man from America loved walking and tried to do so whenever he can. Plus with the serene, beautiful tropical coastline of La Union, this made his walks even more splendid. While during one of his walks, he notices this little Filipino boy wandering with no parent by his side. The boy looked lost and confused, but also still entertained by his curiosity. Ellis approaches this toddler and asks;

'What's your name? Where are your parents?'

Eguniño, not understanding a lick of English looked back at the man with a concerned look on his face and shook his head, not knowing what he just said.

While extending his hand to the boy, the man says;

"Hi, my name is Ellis, I'm an American. Let's go find your parents."

The boy reluctantly extends his own hand and shakes it.

They start to walk down the path leading back to where this boy came from. Passing by each picnic table, Ellis asks: "Do you know this boy? Are you his parents?"

Not more than a few hundred feet, Carmen spotting Eguniño runs up to him.

"Is this your son?" Ellis asks, relieved to possibly found the boy's mom.

Carmen, knowing very little English, responds with a nod.

     "Yes, that my boy."

"Where is his father?" Ellis was curiously asking.

     "His, father dead before boy born."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Are you here on the coast alone?"

     "I'm with work party."

"I see, are they treating you guys ok? How much are you making? Is it enough for you, and what's your boy's name by the way?"

This man from America knew of the economic turmoil that was happening in the Philippines and knew that if someone had a job, then it probably wasn't paying them enough to sustain them. He also had compassion knowing what hard times they may be going through.

      "Eguniño (Heno)"
     "And, I'm making ok. I earn twenty peso a day. It's hard for my boy and I, sometime we go hungry but we ok."

Ellis couldn't help but feel a sense of empathy, seeing this little boy and mother with no man in their lives struggle. He was reminded when he was a youth and going through difficult times of the depression. There were moments in his own life where he would go hungry and could remember the desire to eat food, but the food was not available. He then reflected how he felt, the weakness and discomfort of wanting some little morsel to satisfy that pain of the stomach. Often it was unbearable at times.

Just the thought of this child and widowed mother going through the same pain of the lack of food pierced him deeply. It was hard to imagine but more heartache knowing that they are starving every day. He finds more answers; such as the way they are living and the conditions that seem uninhabitable for anyone to live in. It all seems too familiar to this gentleman who experienced similar events in his own life.

After some more questions were asked and answered, Ellis, having a heavy heart, said:

"I have a home at the Clark Air-force base and needing someone to clean it, make me some meals, and do laundry.  I will pay you for your time if you work for me. You will be paid more than what you are getting paid now, and it will help provide for you and Eguniño.  It will help with food and diapers that you really need."

Carmelita, just meeting this man not knowing who he is, felt she could trust him. Was it the kindness in his voice? Or was it the sweet concern he had for her and her son? Or was it something divine where she knew in full confidence this was a fantastic opportunity? Not knowing but feeling it was right, she agreed.

"Wonderful, I'll see you next week." Replied Ellis.

Luck? Coincidence? A fluke? Perhaps... but when one sees the push or pull upon an object resulting from the object's interaction with another object... that is a force. It's a force or power that is unseen that will change lives.  An American man walks into the life of a Filipino boy and soon becomes his loving papa.  As simple of a meeting between Ellis and Carmen, little they didn't know the impact this had for the life of Heno or who will soon be renamed to Gene Ellis Garner.

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As I was having this conversation with my mother about this experience, she says it changed both our lives. She sometimes can't believe how it all came to be. While speaking to her, my heart fills with joy, knowing that we weren't just there at the right place at the right time. We were there apart of something beyond our own understanding and apart of a force created by divine design. 

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Happy Father's Day, Dad - I love and thank you for being the heaven-sent an angel that changed my life forever!!