On Family Reunions...

My cousin got married last Sunday. When I was in the fourth grade, the older girls in school would come up to me and pretend to be my friends so I would introduce them to my kuya. Now, he’s married.

I haven’t seen my kuya (and his eight brothers and sisters) in years. Because of a wrong turn taken after my grandfather’s death, we weren’t invited to the wedding. Relatives came from as far as Canada and the United States to be there. Among those relatives were his bio-mom, known to me as Tita Ryan, and his step-mom, the much loved and worshiped, Tita Wally.


Last night, Tita Pinky decided to hold a little dinner for all our relatives that are still on speaking terms. Ate Tootsie called it an instant party. One minute we were watching Dragon Ball waiting for the ladies to pile out of Mom’s Rotary Anns meeting. The next minute we’re outside Bagong Lipunan waiting for four orders of canton to bring to the party.

Both Tita Wally and Tita Ryan were present. So were Tita Bay (I’m not sure if I spelled that right), Ate Pam, Ate MM, Tababy and the Daques.

We didn’t stay long. I had a little emergency I had to attend to and the girls wanted to finish things off at the Site Avenue. The party broke up at around 9:00 pm.

As much as I enjoyed seeing them again, I will miss them terribly when they leave for Canada again on Thursday.

Though we weren’t around for the wedding, our own little celebration was magical in its own way. So many different kinds of love exist in our complicated brood. In a world where hate is very real, it’s nice to know, that even when they’re removed, I can still call them family.