most wonderful time of the year

Christmas is really the most wonderful time of the year! Every year, come December time, I usually don’t go home until it’s the weekend before Christmas because there are always parties on weekends starting the last weekend of November. This year, aside from the usual ECT and Sykes fab year-end party, the BJs also had a get-together. And ok, we can say that the the wakieboardies had our mini-get-together (define mini!) with that Avenue Q stint.

Anyway, what gets me really excited is our family Christmas party. They say Christmas is for kids. I don’t really buy that because I am still enjoying my Christmases. I just don’t know if it’s just the merry season or the fact that we are a family with a lot of kids. I am the eldest grandchild in the Aclan family so you can just imagine how young my cousins are.

We always have our Christmas on our so-called ‘bukid’, a fair 1.5-hour drive from Batangas City. This year’s holiday has a big story in it. On the 24th, a couple of hours after we arrived, my Tita Fely had seizures and kept throwing up. We were all scared. My Tito, Mom and cousin accompanied her to the hospital. I really had goosebumps then because it was as if I was witnessing a near-death experience. Worse, it is on the eve of Christmas. They left their crying 6-month old son behind. Their 2 daughters, 12 and 10 were also crying. My lola was crying too. All of us who were left behind were consoling each other that things were no big deal although we knew that we were only convincing ourselves more than the kids. When they informed us that she was fine and just needed to be observed in the hospital, we were able to relax.

The moments seemed to be scenes from Brothers&Sisters. This is a series I got hooked lately. It’s about a family with all the good, the bad and the ugly stories intertwined. The reason I so love the series is that I can relate to the weirdness of their arguments. Day in and day out there are always conflicts but at the end of the day, they still depend on no one else except on each other to get through the tough times.

I have the same feeling with my family. With the Aclans at least. The maternal side of my family is as closely-knitted as how unclosely-knitted the Isidros are. haha.. Believe me if I said I hardly know my first cousins from the paternal side. Anyway,  I always think that our family, the Aclans, is such a weird combo. It’s as if each one is really unique and that the weird thing because no one is ever the same as the others. My mother are 7 kids in the family and they are very close with each other. They never outgrow this habit even though all of them have families of their own. Though there are others who live abroad, come Christmas time, if fate permits, they come home and celebrate Chistmas the Aclan way. I am really thankful for my family! I am the eldest child but I never really felt that much need for a kuya because I have lots of surrogate kuyas. My mother is the eldest too so all four younger brothers she has seemed to be my kuya. The youngest among them I don’t call Tito, Kuya Sonny because he is just 9 years older than me and acts really as my kuya. I am also an only daughter but I never felt the unica hija material because I have lots of female cousins though the closest to my age is 18 and 16.

By the way, this year by the way, we had a PINK CHRISTMAS PARTY! (pictures to follow.. hehe.. may Beng syndrome na ko. Beng syndrome = matagal mag-upload ng pics)

*ETO NA!

Sometimes I get tired of this we-are-family thing as if we need to do things always all-together. All our birthdays, graduation, first communion and even any simple celebration like Girl Scout rites, we have to be together. Ever since I was a kid, we always have barbecue parties, swimming parties, we-just-want-to-pig-out get-togethers, we-really-really-want-to-pig-out get-togethers, inuman sessions. Yes, I am proud to say that I have a family who I drink with. On the eve of Christmas, we downed Kahlua, Bailey’s and Vodka after we found out that my Tita was ok in the hospital. My gawd! We are a family of alcoholics. haha.  Every occasion, there should be wine, hard drinks or beer. At least a single drink must have alcohol in it.  Nobody is really an alcoholic by the definition of it. It’s just our way to be merry. As I told my Lolo, our drinking sessions defy age. It seems that when we are drinking, age is disregarded. We talk as if we are really friends. We laugh like hyenas. Joke around really corny ones. Sing videoke like nobody cares. Get togethers can be tiring and sometimes you just want to celebrate with your nuclear family but  it has always been like this and really I don’t think anyone would want it any other way.

Whatever we feel towards this family, we owe this to our Lolo and Lola, especially my super cool Lolo!  (When I get married someday, I want my husband to be at least half the man my Lolo is. Talagang extra pa to?! Haha) Here’s to another vavavoom year to my family! God bless us all. I love you very very much! Cheers!