My childhood memories of the December holiday season are so special to me that just recounting them today makes me smile so much I could go back to being 5 or 6 any time I want. I have always spent them with family, of course, and each one of them I remember to have been spent at our home where we've lived for almost 21 years now.
I have grown accustomed to celebrating it with my family that I cannot bear the thought of ever celebrating it without them or without celebrating it the way I have celebrated it since my very first memory of it. But I did have quite a few times that I did not have it the way how it always went in my memories. The first and second one, when I was employed at a business processing output company that serves Northern America. Damn, those were difficult times.
I remember having to dress up at 6 o'clock in the evening and preparing to travel to work, grieving the thought that a couple of hours from then on is the Noche Buena that I've probably looked forward to all year round. It's so clear to me how I would look back towards the living room or the dining room before heading for the door. It was heart breaking. I did not sign up for work to miss out on the 12 midnight celebratory meals! But, alas, there was nothing I could do about it.
Last year was the first time since those times that I got to celebrate it just like I did when I was a kid. A complete family on a round table, sharing the feast of colorful dishes, with the aroma filling my heart out with sheer happiness. Oh, bliss, as they call it. I don't think I've ever realized how amazing that feeling was until that time.
To top it all off, that Christmas, I've played host to two friends, who live far away from their own families to be able to celebrate it with them. And I know just how they must have felt, I'm no innocent when it comes to that, I'm sure.
And this year, I decided to celebrate the New Year's with my closest of friends. A chef and two others who are madly in love with each other. (If you read this, I'm merely using my credit! Haha!) I AM celebrating it away from family, but this one's different than the first two ones I've had. I've actually had fun on this one, and that's because it's spent with people who are next to family and not on some bunch of work I had to do for overseas people.
However, no matter how fun it was, I always knew that someday I would have to celebrate these holidays away from family. Reasons are countless. A work abroad? A family of my own? Or maybe when my parents are not with me anymore. Please, I'm not worrying about the future. I'm merely thinking how prepared I would be when those days come. And two years' experience have more than confirmed to me that I can do it, but it also made me realize that as far as preparation is concerned, the remainder of the time we have to actually be able to celebrate it with family far outweighs the need for any preparation.
I mean, who knows when those times would come, or if they would come sooner than I would've planned? Who knows, may be next year, I will have one of those reasons to again spend it away with family? I now know that I need to spend these special moments with mum and dad, or with kuya and with my little brother, while I still can; while I'm still able; while we all have the time for it. I should not be spending it with experiments; or trainings. Training will come in their right time.
So, to end this random post, I want to tell people who are thinking the same thing: "To hell with preparations!" Cherish each opportunity you have to spend the holidays with your family! Lots of people aren't privileged to have it, the least you can do is give importance to such times.
Happy Holidays and a great 2012 to all of you!