Love Songs I Enjoy All By Myself

The pitter-patter of the falling rain put me on a melancholy mood. Moments like these make me yearn for the days when I can snuggle up to the one I love. As the radio played the beautiful melodies , I started to sing along.

Then the mood was broken. The reality is, that loved one had gone away, and the pain is just a distant memory. Thankfully, I had emerged from the storm of life with the resolve to enjoy the little things that bring happiness.

I can still enjoy a beautiful love song, all by myself.

Just to show that I am still a hopeless romantic, I gathered some of my favorite love songs.



How did you know
I needed someone like you in my life
That there's an empty space in my heart
You came at the right time in my life





You are the one who makes me happy
When everything else turns to gray
Yours is the voice that wakes me mornings
And sends me out into the day.






I'll always love you for the rest of my days.
You have won my heart and my soul with your sweet, sexy ways.
You gave me hope when I needed someone near.
You bring me happiness every day of every year.






Always and forever
Each moment with you
Is just like a dream to me
That somehow came true, yeah







When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love






Grow old along with me
Two branches of one tree
Face the setting sun
When the day is done






I don't want to close my eyes
I don't want to fall asleep
Cause I'd miss you babe
And I don't want to miss a thing






If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way
To show her every day
That she's my only one







Facing you who brings me new tomorrows,
I thank God for yesterdays,
How they led me to this very hour,
How they led me to this place...






Have I told you lately that I love you?
Have I told you there's no one else above you?
Fill my heart with gladness, take away all my sadness,
Ease my troubles, that's what you do.






Tomorrow morning if you wake up
And the sun does not appear,
I will be here.

If in the dark we lose sight of love,
Hold my hand and have no fear,
‘Cause I will be here.





Through the years, you've never let me down
You turned my life around, the sweetest days I've found
I've found with you ... Through the years
I've never been afraid, I've loved the life we've made
And I'm so glad I've stayed, right here with you
Through the years





Maybe I didn't treat you
Quite as good as I should have
Maybe I didn't love you
Quite as often as I could have
Little things I should have said & done
I just never took the time

But you were always on my mind
You were always on my mind




Ikaw Ang Lahat Sa Akin
You Are Everything To Me

Kahit ika'y wala sa aking piling
Though you are not with me

Isang magandang alaala
A beautiful memory

isang kahapong lagi kong kasama
a yesterday that's always with me

Dapat ba kitang limutin?
Must I forget you?

Paano mapipigil ang isang damdamin?
How can a feeling be suppressed?

ang panahon upang ikaw ay mahalin
the time to love you

Ako'y maghihintay pa rin
I'll still wait.





All by MySelf
When I was young
I never needed anyone
And makin' love was just for fun
Those days are gone

A Father's Love

For most of my childhood and teenage years in the Philippines, my father worked abroad. He was an aircraft mechanic whose assignments had brought him to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Uganda, Angola, and Iran.

With five growing children, the separation was a necessity. He had always stayed abroad, only coming home for a month. He was the quintessential OFW (overseas foreign worker), long before that word became popular.

When I was about eight, Tatay came home for his vacation laden with gifts. My doll was taller than my baby sister, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and porcelain skin. My youngest sister had a similar, although smaller doll and my brothers had monster toy trucks. In an instant, he shone the spotlight on the Cerrudo kids and raised our importance among the neighborhood kids.

Even though the gifts were expensive (and excessive as per my ever-practical mother), the toys represented my father's amends for those days when he was not around to see our milestones, when my mom raised us by herself. He was not being materialistic; he was just overjoyed upon seeing our faces brighten up with the excitement of discovery.




His love was undeniable, the truth as unequivocal as life itself.

At times, he waxed philosophical about the lost opportunities when he had to drop out of college because of family responsibilities, but he encouraged us all to explore beyond perceived boundaries. My father envisioned the best for us and encouraged us to excel in this world. He didn't miss any chance to tell his buddies about our achievements.

He was a story-teller who regaled us with tales of his exploits in foreign lands, and when our lids started to droop, he switched to stories of vampires and in respect to our Filipino mythology, he loved to talk about the manananggal (who can separate their upper torso to fly into the night with huge bat-like wings in search of pregnant women) and kapre (tree -dwelling smoking giant).

Somehow, he managed to convince us that the manananggal and the kapre will also prey on children who do not like to take their afternoon naps or sleep early at night time.

The kids pretended to squeal in horror but we always asked for more. And so it went that we gathered around him as close as possible, seeking protection from evil creatures as he watched over us. His rich baritone as he sang gentle lullabies reassured us as we dreamt of adventures as Filipino superheroes- Captain Barbell and Darna. We were not traumatized by the stories, and never had nightmares. Because we were secure in his love for us. Perhaps, the smell of his Old Spice perfume warded off the evil spirits.

And then he always woke us up either by tickling our feet or playing with cotton balls in our ears. Tatay gave us butterfly kisses. He danced around the house and showed off what would later be his Rico Mambo moves. My mom became a target of his constant teasing and he would sometimes chase her around the house just to tickle her.

As we grew up, my father started to stay longer in the Philippines in between job assignments and eventually, he stopped his overseas work after I finished college. My father loved watching the ladies of the house as we were absorbed in whatever drama series was showing on tv. During the most dramatic parts, he usually started to sniffle and blow his nose loudly to annoy us. But as much as he was the teaser and the ultimate joker, his sentimental nature was legendary. He cried more often and much more quicker than my mom.

On June 20, 1987, he walked me down the aisle. He hugged me close and said that he would always be there for me, no matter what. When the marriage dissolved, my father supported me and told me that I deserve someone so much more.

In July 2001, he died of a stroke in the Philippines. My sister and I went home. It was heart-wrenching to realize that we would never see him again... that he would not dance with us again.

If I could freeze-frame any moment for posterity, I would love to see him dance with my mother again.

If I could get another chance, I would join my father as he teased my mother until she blushed. I would hug my father to breathe in the scent of his Old Spice cologne again. I would sit at his feet to listen to his stories, anything just to hear his voice once more.

If I could steal another moment with him, I would have said "I love you" over and over again, not just on Father's Day. And if I could go back in time, I would like to see the contented look on his face as he proudly and joyfully watched his young daughters playing with oversized dolls.

And when I started on another journey on June 20, 2011,  with a new work environment, I knew that my father had given me the strength to shine and the spirit to persevere, in spite of the kapre and manananggal. I can almost see him giving me two thumbs up.

I have learned all those years ago when I was eight, that he loved us all with that consuming and unconditional love.

Luther Vandross- Dance With My Father




Cat Stevens- Father and Son




Charice was estranged from her father, but in the end, she still expressed her love for him, probably regretting the time they had lost.




Bob Carlisle- Butterfly Kisses
For all that I have done wrong, I must have done right.





Jose Mari Chan featuring Cherie Gil- Sing Me a Song, Daddy

http://definitelyfilipino.com/blog/2011/07/20/a-fathers-love/