08 holidays

It is tradition for the Filipino people to have close family ties. It has been a common practice, generation after generation, for families to hold reunions especially on holidays- with the members on long vacation leaves and because all are looking forward to added merriment.

i was lucky to have spent the previous holidays outside the office. me and my siblings spent the first part of xmas eve with our maternal first cousin, jinky frias in general trias, cavite and the latter part with our paternal aunt, edna guarin in las piñas city 

in las piñas, we shared the festivities with her family and that of her twin sister’s, edda cledera. we also met up with vonbar as well as his daughter, kristin. new year’s eve was spent in antipolo with aunt edda’s family. vonbar and kristin were also there along with her nanny.

we then later went with vonbar to his maternal aunt in legaspi tower of pasay. there we spent the rest of the day playing cards and getting boozed up. i had to sneak into the office knowing the guards might not let me in if they smell the not so “teen spirit” in me.

it was the first time in many years that me and my siblings spent the holidays with the above-mentioned relatives since we only moved to luzon a few years back.  rarely do i go to their houses because what little time i have left from my days off, i spend sleeping.

the xmas and new year holidays gave me and my family a means of catching up with tidbits of our daily lives as well as milestones. the food was great and the drinks were flowing, but what really made it worth our while was the bonding and what etched it in our memories were the laughter that we shared with people who are not so different from us- in terms of DNA makeup.

after all, birds of the same feather- are the same birds. haha!