Family Reunions

I love family reunions! I love it when we are all together, flipping pages of our memories: our childhood days, people we love and meaningful events --- all these forever etched in our hearts. Our memories become like pieces of jewelry that we lovingly show off to each other.

I guess I am fond of reunions because I have lived away from my family since I was 14. When my dad and mom decided to relocate to Pagadian after living many years in Manila, my sister Sandra and I ended up with my Uncle Rudy and Auntie Letty in Cebu while we pursued our high school studies in St. Theresa's College.

My dad died suddenly of a heart attack that same year we moved. Since then, I found myself living with relatives or staying in dorms as I finished my high school and obtained a university degree. I found employment in Manila and was later joined by my siblings as they graduated from high school and took their college courses in Manila. At one point, four of us stayed in one apartment.

In the meantime, my mom met my stepdad Landon. They got married and mom and my youngest brother Alvin moved to the US in 1983. My youngest sister Vivien joined them the next year. For the longest time, half of our family was in Manila and the other half in Los Angeles: separated by distance but held together by the telephone wires! The only time we were all together was during my wedding in 1989 and then during Dino's wedding in 2000. Those were special times because we were complete then: all the spouses and children were present.

It always seemed difficult to get everyone's schedule synchronized and we were at different levels in our finances which made it challenging to get everyone together. So it was a wonderful gift from the Lord when my mom and all my siblings from the US and Manila flew to Cebu to spend time together while I had a break in my treatments. Although my 2 brothers-in-law did not make it and the only cousins that came were the 2 sons of my 2 brothers, we had a grand time!

We spent a week at a resort in Mactan. The amenities and the food were great but nothing compared to the stories and the laughter that we all shared. Somehow when we are all together, we are young once again, life is uncomplicated and even if it wasn't perfect, it was good. We would laugh at the crazy things we did, remember fondly those who are no longer with us and make fun of ourselves now. We caught up on everyone's lives, listened to our hopes and dreams for the future, shared our pains. We have lived many years apart from each other but when we are together, even for a brief moment, we are "home."

My cousin Chris puts it succinctly: the biggest blessing in our lives is simply the presence of people who care much, whose love is real and who see us beyond ourselves.
I wish I had my mom and siblings closer to me but we don't live in a perfect world where we get everything we wish for. My only consolation is that the love we share will always transcend time and space. Other people may boast of many things they have. I can boast of my family's love and know that I am overwhelmingly blessed!