As a little girl I had fond memories of my Christmas in Binangonan, Rizal. I thought those were the happiest days of the year. Everyone was busy. Ang mga padre de pamilya, bising-busy bago sumapit ang December 15. They made sure that Christmas trees were ready and their windows were aglow beginning on the night before the first day of Misa de Gallo or Simbang Gabi.
My parents were also busy wrapping gifts for their kumares, kumpadres, loyal customers, neighbors, friends. They bought whole legs of ham, hotdogs in packs of 100 pcs. , queso de bola, personalized calendars, t-shirts, bigas, etc.
LED lights, rice lights, tube lights, cascading lights etc. were not yet invented during those times. Meron yung malalaking bumbilya, mga 2″ tall and 1″ in diameter. Actually nababalik na naman ang uso ngayon.
My parents made sure we had a feast during noche buena and buena noche. Hindi talaga kami natutulog, iniintay talaga namin. When the clock strikes 12, lundagan na kami. My mom would require us to jump pag Dec 31 para daw tumangkad. Parang hindi effective kasi wala sa mga kuya ko ang naging six footer at bakit hindi ako naging 5’11?
Under our natural Christmas tree were the wrapped gifts.
And of course, at least 4 of them were for me. Four, from my four older brothers, Kuya Junior, Kuya Romy, Kuya Lito, and Kuya Ben. Lahat sila merong regalo sa akin. And most exciting of all was the moment I wake up on Christmas day. The first thing Aileen and I would do was to climb on the window and see what’s inside the white socks. Hindi uso nun sa Binangonan yung peke na medyas na merong mga palamuti. Tutoong medyas talaga ang isinasabit namin. Basketball socks ng mga kuya ko.
My Kuya Junior was the one who religiously put something in the socks while Aileen and I were still asleep. Madalas 25 centavos and Serg chocolate. The next scene was almost predictable— two girls jumping up and down on the spring bed, holding the socks up on the left hand and the Serg chocolate bar on the right. Pure bliss.
Some people say that Christmas is actually for kids. I say that it’s not. It’s for kids, young adults and super adults.
Admittedly sometimes when families are beset with worries and problems, it’s hard for them to be festive. Those suffering from financial difficulties also relate the celebratory mood with the availability of money. Mahirap ngang magpasko pag walang pang noche buena, walang hamon, tinapay at queso. Their minds go beyond the holidays and worry about what the future holds for them. We can’t really blame them.
I believe Christmas is one of God’s many ways of bringing joy to the earth. Giving us a reason to celebrate, to be happy. He’s reminding us about the most important thing in our lives. Our family. God.
The season also sparks a lot of volunteering. I signed up to wrap gifts for the poor people and to distribute food but there’s a storm on that day so I cancelled out. My friend also said that the place I wanted to go is a ghetto and dangerous. It’s 3 hours away by train from where I am staying at and I admittedly am wary to go there. But I really do want to volunteer. I will find a way.
People are more generous with their smiles, with their time. Many distribute goodies to the less fortunate. It makes them happy. They call it giving back.
Christmas is loving, giving, and sharing. let’s add forgiving. We’ve heard of many people, friends, family members who have never spoken for decades and then all of a sudden one cold Christmas night, they learned how to forgive and embraced each other. Maybe that’s the hand of God.
Fast forward, 50 years later, today, the once upon a time a little girl still believes. I still believe in the magic of Christmas.
We should not lose our childlike enthusiasm on occasions like this otherwise we will become corny and boring individuals.
When we were little we believed in the magic of Christmas. AS old as we are now, let’s still keep the magic and the joy it brings in our hearts.
