As we lulled our party-tired children to sleep on Christmas evening, Turo and I were in agreement, “parang mas masaya ang pasko ngayon. hindi. parang mas totoo ang saya.” It is this year that I experienced the most fleeting Christmas feeling I’ve ever felt in years. Times are indeed tough. I mean, c’mon, I’ve never been as broke, as tired, and as sick as now during Christmas season. BUT, it’s still my favorite time of the year. And no matter how fleeting, my Christmas feeling this year is the most meaningful I’ve ever felt it to be.
photo from a hand ensemble peformance of Christmas carols
Despite all the traffic, endless schedules and unfinished Christmas shopping, and even when the holidays seem much less fancy this year, yuletide gladness felt so real to me. The love from family is just so overwhelming.
lighted anges along Policarpio St.
2010 was a tough year for us: a cancer case, a couple of deaths, relatives migrating. But there were upsides too: Uri getting cleared of hydrocephalus, culmination of the libel case, birth of The Garden Kitchen, deciding to move to LB. Celebrating Christmas is such a fitting ending to one big year. And heck, after and in spite of everything we’ve gone through the previous months, we’re still here to party.
Best of all, my kids wear the most genuine, happy-iest smiles on their faces. And it’s not even the gifts. It’s the wonder that Christmas brings to people’s hearts. I can feel it in them, especially these past days. I look forward to the time when they are a bit older and we can share and compare our Christmas feelings. Mine gets better and more profound each year. I wonder how theirs would be.
