No Change in Spirit
For the past 5 years, the Los Angeles suburb of Walnut was what we called home every Yuletide season. I worked there June 2000 to December '01 while my sister took her MBA September '01, started working and got married June '05. Despite the distance, we maintained the tradition of spending Christmas and New Year together as a complete family.
2005 was to be different. This recent holiday season marked the first time we were not together as one whole family. My parents and I decided to stay in Manila while my sister spent her 1st Christmas with her husband Lloyd in LA. For the first time ever, we were miles apart at such a special time of the year.
It felt different... and sad. The thought of it made me feel sad at first, but that's life. Life goes on and nothing is constant except change. People's lives grow and change. My sister now has her own family. Although this doesn't mean we can't spend time together anymore, sometimes circumstances may prevent that from happening. And that was what happened. Our yearly family tradition was to be broken, and yet for us it really wasn't. For it was the spirit that maintained the tradition. We called to greet each other, chatted and shared stories of pigging out and celebrations. Yes, the spirit of Christmas and New Year within the family lived on. We were still able to share our happiness, sincerity and affection despite the distance and physical absence. Thanks to the cyber world and the ever-reliable telephone.
I guess in the future spending the Yuletide season together physically will be a great bonus... and a greater gift for each one of us.
2005 was to be different. This recent holiday season marked the first time we were not together as one whole family. My parents and I decided to stay in Manila while my sister spent her 1st Christmas with her husband Lloyd in LA. For the first time ever, we were miles apart at such a special time of the year.
It felt different... and sad. The thought of it made me feel sad at first, but that's life. Life goes on and nothing is constant except change. People's lives grow and change. My sister now has her own family. Although this doesn't mean we can't spend time together anymore, sometimes circumstances may prevent that from happening. And that was what happened. Our yearly family tradition was to be broken, and yet for us it really wasn't. For it was the spirit that maintained the tradition. We called to greet each other, chatted and shared stories of pigging out and celebrations. Yes, the spirit of Christmas and New Year within the family lived on. We were still able to share our happiness, sincerity and affection despite the distance and physical absence. Thanks to the cyber world and the ever-reliable telephone.
I guess in the future spending the Yuletide season together physically will be a great bonus... and a greater gift for each one of us.
posted by mike at 8:12 PM
1 Comments:
My sentiments, exactly! It brought me tears... sniff! I totally agree and I’m glad that despite the distance, we as a family managed to keep in touch constantly. I terribly miss our family holidays. It felt different spending my first holiday without you guys here or us not being together. It is not the same, but as you said, life is what it is. It’s very true what they say that you realize the true value of another person in your life when you’re far apart. It saddens me when some people ignore what’s in front of them and take things for granted. Family and close friends are always precious.
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