My Beautiful Boy

Before you cross the street / Take my hand / Life is what happens to you / While you're busy making other plans

My son Evawwen Lii-athne Frriloem Mella is exactly three years and eight months old today. He hasn't have a haircut yet since birth. He is a smart boy, very inquisitive, very playful, and loves music of various genres. Is this surprising? No. Because we, his parents, have always encouraged him and exposed him to an environment that allows such curiosity and openness.

 A picture taken on October 2, during a photography session for Evawwen

He is growing up to be a very gregarious individual, friendly and respectful to others. I hope that he continues to be like this.

I taught him how to play the drums early on, especially because I noticed that he could tap his hands to a song's beat and rhythm; he could feel if the song is ending already, ready to clap his hands; and he could hum to the carrier melodies of many songs.

Evawwen at Long & McQuade, he was barely one.

He even knows that "Everything Counts" is by Depeche Mode, "Just like Heaven" is by The Cure, "Baby" is by Justin Bieber, and "Born This Way" is by Lady Gaga. He loves film scores too as well as Classical music. Why? Simply because listening I, his father, is an eclectic music enthusiast--I listen every day to perhaps all kinds of music, so he is exposed to various genres not in a contrived way.

His favorite film scores are the main theme in Star Wars, the background music that plays every time Darth Vader is arriving, and the music that plays during the fight scene between Darth Maul, Qui-Jon Jinn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hi favorite Classical piece is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

Evawwen's favorite Classical piece, Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor"

True to the name I gave him, Evawwen (reverse spelling of New Wave), it is obvious now that the kind of music to which he is most drawn is New Wave. Unsurprising, because while I listen to various kinds of music, New Wave remains to be my most favorite, next to Progressive Rock, Metal, and Classical.

I might as well start introducing Evawwen to yet another New Wave band, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, whose song "21st Century Boy" featured Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor."

Evawwen's favorite films are all the Star Wars movies and animated offshoots--he must have seen these hundreds of times already--I began to let him watch them when he was barely one. But when he saw the Transformers movies, these now have become his new favorite. He loves action figures--I share with him my toy collection. He knows countless characters from Star Wars, He-man & the Masters of the Universe, Transformers, and even from old films and shows, like E.T., Voltes V, Daimos, Star Rangers, and many more.

I told Evawwen that my big action-figure collection is his now but that he still couldn't open most of them. 

Such is the influence a parent could have on his child.

I'm happy that Evawwen is obviously taking after me--my preferences, my dispositions, and my temperament. That's why rearing him becomes a learning process also for me--I always double check too my own actions, conscious of the big possibility that Evawwen emulates all these.

However, if along the way Evawwen chooses to like other things instead, that's okay, as long as he follows an equally good path. After all, he has the right to choose in the future what he would think would be best for him.

All I am and would be for Evawwen is a father who will continue to love him, care for him, support him, encourage him, and makes sure to guide him towards a responsible path to life--certainly not a religious nor spiritual life, but definitely a passionate and humanistic one.

I dedicate this song, "Beautiful Boy" by John Lennon, to my beloved Evawwen. Of course by now, I'm familiar with the entire discography of The Beatles, although I have never been a big fan of theirs; I am more of a John Lennon fan, because it was in 1980 when I began to develop a longtime passion for music, and Lennon's music was among those that comprised my early favorites.  

For the other half of the sky...

My most favorite song by John Lennon, "Woman," which I first heard in 1981, a year after the album (Double Fantasy) where it came from, was released; I dedicate this to my beloved half, Charina, who does not only share many of my passions but also have visions of her own that I equally support and respect.