Hi everybody! It’s Jon Jon Rivero, CEO and founder of Qi Creative. I’m also an Occupational Therapist and a Certified Trauma Practitioner.

As an Occupational Therapist, I could not be more proud of the work that we do learning from and with children, families and schools living with special needs and all abilities. For this blog, I would like to share a story that defines my pride, in who I am and one of the reasons why I do what I do.

I want to talk about my father, Dr. Jose Zamora Rivero, the legacy he left me, and how grateful I am for who he was. We are more than our roles, professions and titles—we are human beings worthy of the love we give, receive, and share with the world.

Jose’s Black Belt certificate from the Philppine Karate Club in Pasay City.

About My Dad, Jose

Dr. Jose Zamora Rivero was a doctor, a musician, a dancer, a martial artist, an outdoorsman, husband, and father to me and my brother.

In 1984, doctors discovered a large brain tumour and he required emergency surgery. It saved his life but my dad lived with a brain tumor and a severe brain injury. Overnight, he went from being a practicing doctor to needing care 24/7.

From the age of 2 until I was 19, I was one of his primary caregivers.

He enjoyed engaging with me, my brother and my mom through activities that were meaningful to him, like music, martial arts, singing and dancing, and family get-togethers.

These needed to occur in small doses of time as to not overstimulate his brain, mood, and fatigued body. However, it was those activities that gave him meaning and value as a human being prior to his illness that were part of his healing journey and road to rehabilitation.

We did not know it at the time, but those “occupations” helped him re-learn how to live with his new set of cognitive, emotional, physical, and spiritual challenges. Although he could no longer practice medicine as a doctor, no longer drive a car, and no longer be left alone in the house, my mom would remind us that he remains our dad who loves us and simply needs to find other creative ways to live life.

My brother and I both learned the values of celebrating everything about us, and also learning that celebrating ourselves doesn’t mean ignoring challenges.

Whether it was my dad Jose, myself, my brother Joel or my mom Gloria, we learned there are things that are within our control that we can focus on, and there are things that are outside of our control that we can try and focus on. However those things, the things outside our control, are often difficult to change. Growing up my dad would have seizures over and over again and we never knew which trip to the hospital would be his last. However, we celebrated each day like it could be his last and every little gain in his health would be a success in the right direction. The most incredible part was that he lived 17 more years from the time of diagnosis and my entire family grew stronger together because of it. It was when he passed away that I truly appreciated what he and my family went through and it most certainly influenced the way I think, feel, and behave in my life.

So one of the things that I wanted to share with you is that whatever challenge you may be facing, whether it’s a medical or a social disability or a challenge of ableism or disableism, one of the things that has kept me going as a person is to focus on the value of a human being and that value is really much more than our physical attributes, our mental attributes, our emotional attributes or our spiritual attributes.

It’s actually all of it put together and this is one of the reasons why I became an Occupational Therapist.

So if I could share a couple of tips for you as a client, or as a person working in our industry, or as a professional, or just someone who’s reading this blog:

Start With Yourself

We start with ourselves, and one of the main things to look at is gaining empathy by first looking at our own challenges.

When we can do that, and be authentic and truthful about what we are struggling with, it can help create a more empathetic lens when we’re looking and supporting or working with others.

Be honest and truthful with yourself and look at the things you have control over. See the next step and act on it. Whether it is the wrong action or the correct action, learn from it and adapt the next step.

As an example, one of my challenges is that I have anger issues—which really if I was to look deeper, stems from some sadness—and if I really was to looking even deeper, I may not be able to answer that—because it is a challenging blind spot that I live with. I may need outside support to help me understand this and I then seek support from my own psychologist. Getting professional help is an excellent resource for my healing journey towards being a better person for myself, my family, and my clients.

By focusing on things that I’m truthful with, can help me feel more certain, and less anxious in knowing that I am perfectly imperfect.

Patience and Grace

I learned a lot of patience and grace from my mom. I remember being in church as a kid, and one of my father’s triggers was to yell when he heard something disruptive such as a baby crying.

If you can imagine being in a congregation of 200 people, and you hear a middle aged-man yell randomly, and me at the time, being maybe six or seven years old, trying to make sure my dad doesn’t say something inappropriate in church; that would pretty much sum up my anxiety around bringing my dad to a public setting.

Jon Jon and his mother, Gloria, holding a copy of The Giving Tree.

My brother and I would freeze in place while everyone looked at my dad—and so at first, I would be very embarrassed because I thought that most people wouldn’t necessarily know that he had a brain tumor. They looked at him in a way with facial expressions that portrayed a message of “that guy is rude. Why would he do that?”

Those who know my family will understand but a lot of people did not. I developed both a sensitive reaction to others’ perceived judgments with also a very “thick skin” of pretending like I did not care what others thought.

They just saw an older man getting angry at church, however my mom had a really great talks with my brother and I that helped us have patience and grace. I realized that just as children were learning to behave in the church, my father had to relearn how to behave in a church as well. Those who knew about my dad’s condition would be patient and share grace with our family, and those who didn’t, my mom would tell us not to focus on them. It was easier said then done but it was a very valuable skill that continues to serve me even to this day.

What my mother did was educate us on how to handle the judgment of others because we can’t control what other people do.

We can’t control what other people think of us. What we can control is our own self-regulation and our own confidence.

These lessons have truly made my brother and I the leaders in healthcare that we are now.

Whether you are someone who works directly with children, families or adults living with special needs or disabilities, I want you to know:

Everyone has a battle and we don’t know what that is. So it’s better to be kind, than it is to be right.

Last Words

This heading is not only to conclude this blog—it is also to let you know that near the end of his life, my dad had a few last words for me.

One of these was for me, his Canadian-born son, to return to the Philippines to learn more about my cultural background and to give back.

This wish of his turned into a 13 year journey of returning with service, and culminating into BALIKBAYAN: From Victims to Survivors, a documentary which had its online world premiere at two different film festivals this summer.

Click here to learn more.

If you’re someone who needs support, please reach out to us at Qi Creative, learn more about trauma through our book My Name is Trauma, or if you want to get in touch with me directly, come visit me at JonJonRivero.com.

Thank you so much for allowing me to share this story and a piece of my heart with you. I want to learn from you and I want to continue to grow, so please do keep in touch.

Wishing you and your loved ones nothing but peace, love and blessings.

Take care,

Jon Jon Rivero, OT (C), CTP-C

CEO & Founder

From Jose to Jon: Our CEO’s Story and Life Lessons