every year we go to tarlac to have a reunion with the my mom's family. we did it when our grandparents were alive, and we still do it now. just to keep in touch.
i always look forward to the reunion. barring one or two in-laws who happen to be bitches in the first degree, the rest of the family is cool.
food, as always, was in abundance. we all love to eat. and yesterday was no exception. eating began at 12. we ended at 6. the fare consisted of the usual stuff--spaghetti and ice cream, plus the only to be found in tarlac food (or at least i'd like to think so. my uncle is a great cook) -- burong hipon, mustasa, tapang kalabaw, inihaw na hito, roasted duck and roasted turkey, kilawen, pinapaitan.. the list goes on.
conversations were happy too. my cousins never hesitate to poke fun at others, and at themselves. nothing is sacred. and listening to them is so refreshing because they say what they think, without pretensions. but the affection is there. and the compassion.
looking back i find it unfair that we got to spend so little time with them. my dad's mom was the dominant matriarch. we loved her but she wanted to keep everybody in her clutches. so we never got to spend christmas with my lolo and lola in the province. we all stayed in baguio. all her children and their families were required to spend christmas here. we were deprived of our lolo and lola and our other relatives. :(
still, it was perhaps this lack of time spent with them that made what little time we had so special. but... naaaah.
i still would have liked to spend more time with them.
now we're all grown up and we still enjoy each other's company. that should count for something. :)
looking forward to next year. wonder what food we will have?
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