Lolo and Lola must have been so proud.

I mean, there we were — children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren — reunited from all over the world to celebrate being a big family in the small town where it all started. This time, we brought our own families with us.

There were a lot of hugs. A lot of Hey, how are you? sometimes followed by the question, And who do we have here? as introductions were made to kids and partners never properly met due to distance — literally and figuratively.

Raven was amazed. Looking at the new faces around her, she was like, “Mama, are all these people here family?”

Family.

It was a novel concept to her, the extendedness of it. That far beyond me and Jeff in our nuclear setup, she had cousins and distant cousins and even more distant cousins in a country that’s more like a holiday destination than home.

True to Filipino way of doing things, a mass was held in honour of the event. Wearing uniform white shirts custom-printed with Crescen ❤︎ Aleja Family Reunion 2023 just in case we forget why we were there for, we flocked to the nearby church that, itself, had also grown and improved remarkably since those Flores de Mayo days of youth spent foraging wildflowers as offering to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

By some cosmic joke, my sisters volunteered me to do the First Reading. On the spot.

I, the least religious one of them all. Bloody hell.

So while everyone was out there catching up before the mass started, I was at the back catching my breath lest I pass out from mild hyperventilation; going over the text I had to read while listening to the directive as to when my cue would be to go up to the podium to help deliver the word of the Lord.

All those years of going to Catholic school had led me to this reverent moment of anxiety. As the church choir sang their opening song, I walked towards the altar with both hands held together in supplication, as instructed, looking like the cute little angel that I was. *bats eyelashes*

Anyway, I survived. I didn’t burst into flames or anything so… yeah. That was the main thing. Whew.

*Raven at 7 years old