Remembering anew: Moments before 2022
#JhoanasJHOurnal
Celebrating holidays hits different this year. No other relatives were visiting, no cousins coming home, and there is still apprehension of the virus. However, despite this, I did have a wonderful holiday vacation. Come as I take you as I reminisce my moments before we welcome the year 2022.
Preparing for Christmas
I spent my first few days of vacation preparing for Christmas. My mother appointed me to canvas my younger sister’s gift. It was a laptop. Let me tell you something, looking for the right one was more complicated than I thought. Due to the rise of students learning in an online class setup, laptops are quickly sold out. I spent days searching, and I even considered purchasing one in Manila since stores in our location don’t have a stock with the model that me and kuya have in mind.
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At last, after a week of waiting, I got a call from a store in Vigan that they had new stocks arrived, and fortunately, they had the specs of the laptop that we were
eyeing. With that notification, I swiftly prepared and went to buy it. My sister was delighted, yet she jokingly revealed to me that she would have opted for an iPad if she had known about the surprise.
Christmas Day
I thought we’d celebrate Christmas just the five of us — papa, mama, kuya, ading, and me. I planned activities that we’d do, such as playing games, doing karaoke, or watching a movie. However, my idea didn’t persist. Early morning on Christmas Eve, while having breakfast, my papa received a phone call. It was our lolo-uncle. After some chatting, he revealed to us that nanay, our great-grandmother, was the reason he called. He handed her the phone, and she disclosed her request that she wanted to celebrate Christmas with us, hosted in our house. My parents happily agreed, and we children were delighted. It’s been a long time since we last saw each other.
It’s already 11:00 in the evening, and my grandparents haven’t arrived because they were singing for the last mass. They were the only ones we were waiting for. Some of my mama-lolas were already yawning while conversing while I had a quick nap. We started at midnight, exactly Christmas Day. My mama and I cooked palabok and siomai. We also prepared macaroni while papa bought cassava cakes. My grandparents bought Jollibee chicken joy, my other grandparents bought pizza, while my lolo-uncle and great-grandparent bought suman and barbeque. We celebrated until 2:00 in the morning. It was a memorable Christmas. Merry Christmas and Happy birthday, papa Jesus!
Mommy’s Birthday
What happens after Christmas? It’s our mommy’s birthday! My siblings and I decided to visit our grandmother to personally greet her with a ‘happy birthday.’ Our parents brought her cake, and we wrapped her a gift. When we arrived, she was preparing as they seemed to have an errand with daddy. We greeted her with a hug as we handed her cake and present. She was full of delight and gratitude. We asked where they were going, and she replied that they are having their double celebration, a Christmas party for the music ministry, and a birthday celebration for members who have birthdays in December. Their celebration will start in three hours, but they are already prepared. It is how they are, always early. We decided to eat as they had food delivered and bonded for a while, as they needed to go already. Even if we had to celebrate mommy’s birthday just for a short period of time, at least we had to celebrate with her. We are still thankful. Besides, they’d come to our house the next day; we resumed the celebration there.
Swimming Day
I thought today was a typical day to do my requirements. However, my tita called and invited us to swim in Fiesta Garden, which is approximately 300 meters away from our house. At first, I was hesitant because I had plans for that day, and my sister had a backache. Who will I go then? I am not going if my sister’s not going, it would be boring without her. However, I thought to myself that if I missed this chance, it would take a long period of time before I’d have time to swim again. Besides, it’s been more than a year since the last time we went swimming. I must have forgotten the techniques I’ve learned back in our swimming classes in Junior High School.
That idea pushed me to convince my sister; I promised her that she’d ignore the pain once we were there. That worked! Not only that I convince her, but she also forgot the pain in her back. I thought it was going well, but as soon as we jumped in the water, it was freezing cold. Ohhh, in my mind, I was regretting my decision. But it’s okay. Sometimes life happens. We just had to see the silver lining in every situation. We enjoyed it, though. I did not just swim for a long time.
Parent’s Anniversary
I was still weary from swimming last night. But, hey, it’s my parents’ anniversary. I greeted my parents, “Happy anniversary, mama, papa! I just woke up, but I could smell that they were already preparing lunch. Wait, what? It’s already 11 am! As I decided that I’d take brunch, they were already calling me to come and eat under the mango tree. I went there and saw my grandparents, two titas, and my siblings. I greeted them and sat. There was pinakbet, bagnet, letchong manok, and letchon paksiw. After that, papa served fruits for dessert.
We had an intimate celebration in the evening, just the five of us. But during this time, I encouraged my mama to order the other food instead since we had already baked lasagna and cooked siomai. She agreed. I helped her order pancit malabon, lechong manok, and the cake. While we ate, we watched the series ‘Honesto.’ Initially, the series was for my activity in MIL. However, my family got interested and decided to continue watching it. Afterward, we helped each other do the dishes and other chores.
Family Reunion
In our family, close family ties are valued. That is why events are meant to be spent with our family, friends, and relatives, especially during the holidays. Every year, we are accustomed to having an extended family reunion. My grandfather has nine siblings, so expect to meet numerous first, second, and third cousins. However, during this year, few only attended; only our family from nearby places.
There were karaoke, parlor games, and intermission numbers. Of course, our lolo’s and lola’s handed money as prizes. I didn’t join much, though. I went back home immediately because I didn’t bring our dog to the venue. I am worried that he may get scared of the noise and unfamiliar faces. Nevertheless, when my sister and I compared who got more prizes, my sister was surprised, and I laughed as I accumulated more money than her despite not involving myself much in the games and activities.
New Year
Just a few moments from now, it would be another year. I helped my mama by preparing our food later. I decided to bake banana bread and brownies for our dessert. I also baked the ham. At the same time, my mama baked lasagna and prepared macaroni and suman. Papa also ordered chicken joy, pizza, letchon manok, and cake. We listened to the mass online, while papa had to attend two masses face-to-face because they were the ones who’d sing. While waiting for him, we played parlor games. Then we had dinner at 11:20 pm. Because of this, I didn’t get to jump because I was still full. Too bad, I was even hoping because my sister is already taller than me. Anyways, after dinner, we watched fireworks from neighboring barangays. We are not fond of fireworks in our community because we have pets. Before we ended the day, we had a karaoke contest with my siblings. Of course, you don’t have to guess who won. It’s automatic, me. Just kidding.
