My Fondest Christmas Memory

My fondest Christmas memory was when I found out there was no real Santa. LOL. Just kidding. Do you want to hear that story? Errr.. No.I'm supposed to tell you my fondest memory, not the funniest. Haha! I will tell you about that some other day, but right now, let me go back to 2008, which was the year that my Christmas was the best. Why so recent? Is it perhaps I cannot remember anything that are more than 24 hours old? LOL. No, it's not that. As soon as I started to really dig through my memory bank (and that means going around at the back of the house where nobody else is around and just sit there for about thirty minutes and looking and laughing at old photos for another thirty), they all came back. As waaaayy back as 1988. But why did I chose 2008?

You see, me and my cousins from my mother's side has always been close. As in super close. I think it stemmed from the fact that we growing up, we always lived near each other. I am one of the oldest in the lot, and maybe that's where I get all my craziness from (because of those kids). June 7 2008, a mere six days after Svet's first month birthday, we moved to Baguio. It was an exciting thought. We have been constantly moving throughout my entire life but we have never moved as far as that. But it was somewhat saddening just the same. I know it means being away from those crazy cousins that I have come to love over the years, no matter how loony they may be.

Baguio is not that far away, but none of them owns a car that can take them here on a whim. It has to be a planned vacation, something that I know will involve budgeting (there are so many of them!) and schedule issues (they go to different schools and of course have other miscellaneous places to go to). So Christmas 2008 was nearing, and there was no word from them. I was getting sad by the minute. It hit me that it was the first time that I will not be spending my Christmas with the loonies, and they haven't even told me of their plans. Was moving here to Baguio worth it?

December 19. It was very early in the morning and very cold. A knock on our door. I was irritated to be disturbed in our sleep. I got up and answered the door. And there they were in all their shivering glory. ALL nineteen of them (including my grandmother, my tita, my sister and her son). I have never seen a noisier bunch, but I've never been this touched as well. I was confused, naturally, as to why they were there. Turns out my Tita in London organized that vacation and wanted my grandmother to spend Christmas in Baguio. My grandma, who always wants her grandchildren in tow, brought more than half of Bulacan's population with her.

My favorite girls, plus my tita
December 24th around four p.m., the older cousins and I, plus Paul and my Tita, helped prepared the food for our Noche Buena. The younger cousins slept early, to be waken up when the food is ready. We decided to hop on a taxi and go to Burnham Park around six while waiting for the food to be cooked (there was a lot to be cooked, since there were tons of people in our house). My cousins are camera whores, so they spent part of the night taking pictures of themselves and of us. We had trouble looking for a taxi on the way home, and had to run everywhere going after taxis, laughing like maniacs on Harrison Road. We finally grabbed a taxi, who was hesitant to let us in because there were so many of us. I honestly don't know how we fit inside, but we gotta get home or our grandmother and my mom would be angry, so we somehow managed to become sardines for about twenty minutes.

Christmas night at Burnham Park
Needless to say, I had a Christmas blast! Not only during Christmas day but for everyday that they were here. It was tiring everyday, cleaning up after those crazy kids, but it was all worth it for the fun they brought with them. Christmas 2009 we were the ones to go there and spent the holidays with the crazies. I am now content in the knowledge that no matter how far away we may live, we all will find a way to spend time with each other. I know that if we are not able to go there, they will spend time here with us. They are actually planning to go here in June or July (when my Tita in London together with her two kids which I also lurve to bits come home for a vacation), and have you guessed it already? I am looking forward to it.

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