Home for the Holidays

Flying back home to family for the holidays is always an exciting event I look forward to. The guestroom in the house in Moonwalk Village at Paranaque feels so welcome each time I fly in for a break from Davao. Nothing comparable to a warm embracing sensation of what home is meant to be, pleasant as a secure blanket on a chilly night.

The meals served at home are so flavorful when they're personally made by mom. 

It's what really makes coming home extra special. 

It's been two weeks past the holidays and I'm still not "over my hangover", I already miss family, seeing mom and my sisters while on vacation in Manila felt like a rollercoaster of emotions with all the bickering, our mini "family feud" and the petty arguments. 

All ingredients of relationships that have ripened and blended into one big recipe of love throughout the years. 

I also had the chance to spend time with my niece doing last minute Christmas shopping at SM Makati. We did the supermarket with mom at Rustan's supermarket then had dinner with cousins at Bonifacio High Street. 

We visited papa's grave at Manila Memorial Park the next day,among the many other varied family activities. 

Just the same, things turned out for the best as I left Manila for Davao the weekend after New Year's Day. 

Relishing the wonderful moments still in my thoughts, my grandnephew playing with one of his christmas gifts given by Santa, the sound of a younger grandnephew's Holiday laughter at barely three months old, I with my sister and a niece sitting in the kitchen chatting one afternoon. 

Nothing beats being with family and my loved ones.

I also miss my village gang and neighbors too. I made many friends when our family moved out of the military camp to this Village in Paranaque after my father retired from the Armed Forces.

Somehow, things aren't the way i thought they would be, rather how I wanted them to be after being away from home in Moonwalk Village for about 25 years. The friends I made and spent time with when the family moved here aren't nearby anymore as they used to be. They've all gone separate ways, living different lives. This makes me really sad that simply put, life indeed must goes on for everyone. 

         My friends from Parañaque

After living in Davao City for the past 25 years. I have decided that it was time to retire from corporate work and move on with my life. I now want to spend the rest of my time with mom and the family. 

It's funny cause during the last couple of years on the job, I kept thinking about building my own place back home. A sort of a bachelor's pad, a residential studio not far from mom's, my very own 'nest', so to speak. 

High time for my dream pad, perhaps?