"Akala nyu kayo lang ang may picture kasama parents nyu :)) hahahaha ma pa this is for you and i hope that you are proud of me :))" - Kevin Villanueva (photo taken from his instragram account)
The picture above obviously isn't hard to ignore; one, because it's everywhere (in your search engines, social networking sites, on the papers and on the television) and two, because it's too inspiring and touching to not know the story behind this photo.
On the 26th of March, 2013 Kevin, Kebong as many of us call him, victoriously finished college alongside with other graduates and friends. Little did we, and he himself know that it literally was the start of his dreams turning into a reality.
Kevin has been a friend of mine for four years already, he has been one of my blockmates and first friends in college; a jolly, free-spirited, spontaneous and multi-talented guy. Despite knowing very little about each other, I got to know him better when we rode the ferry boat to school and back. I can even remember when he and I had to go to school despite the storm just to know if our IT General Assembly was postponed, which was pretty hard to forget. Well, that was my own piece of story with Kebong.
I learned about the story about his family during one of our night out sessions over beer (don't worry, we don't drink and drive, because we don't have a car. Lol!) with 3 other friends, we were in junior college back then if my memory serves me right. The story about how his mother have locked him up during several occasions, her nervous breakdowns and her suicide, which had all of us shed tears, the sudden death of his father in 2009 (where he texted me to speak to our professors for him) and the struggle(s) he had during the course of his education. All of which, left me in awe and admiration of his strength and will.
Admittedly, at many times I was jealous of how free Kebong was in my own perspective - being able to go out of town, stay up late at bars and do anything he wants without parents and/or guardians to scold and ground him. But then my mom told me about this touching photo of him that turned the picture upside down (figuratively). This made me realize how lucky I am, and how I should appreciate every little thing in my life - because he (Kebong) did so even in the absence of his parents; he loved and valued family, he saw things in a different perspective, he saw the glass half full and unceasingly strive to reach his goals.
Kevin, I know all these are pretty overwhelming, nevertheless I will never stop telling you that you all deserve these - this actually may be the graduation gift you get from your mom and dad, for all the hardships you went through, for triumphantly achieving your dream(s) and for continuously inspiring people. I know that your parents, despite their absence in flesh, are very much proud of you. You have become the person they wanted you to be. You are, by far the greatest representation of The Script's "The Man Who Can't Be Moved".
A slow clap for you, Kebong! *winks*
