Together This Christmas

Every year since I was born until the year 1999, I spent every single Christmas and New Year with my immediate family.  We would all come home to Bohol and spend Christmas together.  This was a big deal for my parents.  And for us their children, it had somehow become an obligation so that wherever we were in the planet, we always made sure we were home during the holidays.  Luckily, we were all in the Philippines back then--my sister was working in Makati, I in Cebu and my brother was in still in college in Dumaguete.  So traveling home to Bohol was fairly easy.

I enjoyed every single Christmas I had.  We all went to Simbang Gabi and there would always be eating after that--sikwate and puto or biko is what I can remember the most.  On Christmas Eve, mom would always prepare good food--the kind that we normally wouldn't have throughout the year:  a good ham, roasted or fried chicken, seasonal fruit like Grapes and Fuji Apples (these were seasonal for us because we only had them during Christmas), and Spaghetti--there was always Spaghetti because this was my little brother's favorite.  We would go to church around midnight and then feast on what mom prepared after the mass. 

Mom and dad would have gifts for us, but they were always something that they made rather than bought.  They weren't fancy but they always put a smile in our faces.  The one gift I remember the most was my first bathing suit.  I had always wanted to wear a bathing suit, and not some shorts and t-shirts to the beach, but mom didn't let me have it until I was 16.  And so she gave it to me as a Christmas gift before I turned 17.  I still have a photo of me wearing it in my room back home.

On Christmas Day, we would all drive up to Loon, my parents' hometown located about 18 miles north of Tagbilaran City.  We'd spend the day with grandparents and relatives from both sides.  After our grandparents passed away, my parents continued this tradition of going there on Christmas Day, this time spending the day with the town's people, feeding children and giving away used clothing and shoes.  I learned recently that this is something that a lot of people over there anticipate every year and I want to be able to go there myself one of these days.

I couldn't really say that back then I didn't want to change the way I spent Christmas.  I was, in fact, quite excited to spend Christmas some place else--somewhere more festive and maybe somewhere with snow!  But I guess the saying holds true that you won't miss something until you lose it, and for the past 10 or so years, I did lose my ability to spend Christmas at home with my family.  1999 was my last.  I left home in 2000 and I was in a line of work that prevented me from coming home in December.  I missed home and I missed my family terribly, especially on Christmas.

Two years ago, my parents had the opportunity to visit us here and spend Christmas with us.  My sister and my brother also came.  And just like that--we were spending Christmas together once again, after almost 10 long years.  That was a dream come true and something that I would like to go on every year for as long as we all live.  I think it's hardly possible but I hope and I know that all of us in the family will make an effort to let it happen. 

This year, we were blessed again with a visit from my parents--one that I would consider my best Christmas gift.  I am able to spend Christmas with the entire family again!  And to add to that--the family is growing.  We now have two little boys and one more little boy soon joining the brood. 

Christmas here is so different.  It is not as festive as I originally thought.  We have a day off from work, not a week or more like we have back home.  We have Simbang Gabi for 3 nights instead of 9, and only in churches with Filipino parishioners (there's very few of them in our area).  There are no Christmas carolers.  There is no midnight mass so we go to church on Christmas Day.  We don't get snow where we are, though it's still awfully cold.  But some things remain the same.  We prepare a special dinner on Christmas Eve with good food and a good bottle of wine.  We have gifts for everyone.  We celebrate Noche Buena just talking, laughing, sharing stories, sometimes singing and dancing, and playing games with the little ones until they fall asleep.  The rest of us stay awake until the wee hours of the morning.

We have a added a few things to the tradition as well.  Each of us women prepare a special dish.  This is optional for my mom because although she is undoubtedly the best cook among all of us, it is our turn to cook for her.  There will be lots of picture-taking!  We'd like to have a family portrait every year and we will have themes.  This year is red and gold.  My brother has a cool idea for next year's theme, which I am very excited about.  Back then, we didn't have a camera so our Christmas memories are all in our minds.  We want to have something to show our kids and grandkids going forward so they can see how we celebrated Christmas through the years.

I still miss home and the way we spent Christmas over there.  But I am very happy nonetheless.  Because all I really want for Christmas is to spend it with the people I love the most, and I am grateful--enormously grateful that I got to do that this year!