Monday, December 27, 2010

Of Traditions and Holidays

Been a while since I've written in this blog ... a good year and how best to revive this blog by talking about the recent Christmas holidays and our own family traditions ...

Christmas for me has always been a time to be with family. And this season is usually capped with a family luncheon or dinner at our house in Sacred Heart Village, Talisay City. When we were kids, I remembered we have Romeo, a hired "kusinero" who would come to the house and cook the whole night just to prep for lunch of 40 or so people! Our small house would have relatives coming from different places and all rooms will be bursting with cousins, aunts, uncles, friends. I even remembered my sister having a pet "kambing" cooked for this holiday feast.

By tradition, the lunch party will also be our gift giving day and will be filled with games and special performances of the COUSINS Inc. When we were young, our parents want to show off our talents so we had to really perform. Ha ha ha! Oh I remembered how Ranie used to really sing for us and Ate Shawi showing off her dancing powers! The whole year, my sis and I would save money so we can have gifts for everyone. No cousin was left without a gift. Mom used to augment our gift giving budget just so we can give to everyone!

As the years passed, this tradition evolved. Our small house was still the same but we grew up. My sis and I had our own money, and my parents didn't have to augment our gift giving budget anymore. Our cousins too, grew up! But of course! And they have started to bring in their own gifts for everyone! What a truly wonderful day it was as we received gifts from each other. We stopped having Meo cook for the lunch party as we move on to having our lunch catered ... we didn't want to wash dishes and worry about the menu. So our reliable Ma Lina Catering Service was our best friend and lechon was delivered by Boy (dad's suki) every time!

This year, we had our traditional lunch once again. This time, we had a record breaking ninety-plus attendees ... oh how our family have grown! Thanks so much to Ate Shawi, my partner in the games, to Jona who helped me with the big LAPUS clan and to Brian, who organized and bought the gifts while I was away! Oh mom, I'm sure you enjoyed it!

Merry Christmas to all! And probably it's time to start your own family traditions ...



Mrs Jane B.