Just Around the Corner

I can't wait. I'm not really excited, but this weekend couldn't come soon enough. My body needs the R and R. A week's vacation is just what the doctor ordered and a cruise to Astoria, Oregon, Seattle, Washington, Vancouver and Victoria, Canada is perfectly in line with it. For those who have never been cruising before, the fact that we can unpack once and visit a few places, the idea that you're well fed and completely pampered is wonderful. We leave on Saturday and come back a week later. An added bonus is that we leave from pier 35 in San Francisco which means no long drive or plane ride to catch the ship. We're sailing on the Celebrity Mercury. It's supposed to be one of the better cruise lines out there. I'm maintaining a wait and see. What I'm looking forward to most is really just sleep time and more playtime with my wife and son. Everything else is just bonus. Though, I am looking forward to Pike Place Market, Pier 70 (Real World Seattle House), and you gotta have Starbucks in Seattle. In Vancouver, I'm hoping to see Chinatown and Gas Town. Victoria, doesn't seem to offer much except for Buchart Gardens, but it looks like Market Square and Old Town might be a place to see. I really just want to relax, see some things I may never get a chance to see again, do a little shopping, and have a load of fun. I haven't had much fun this year...it's about time!

Revisited...

So I'm back now from my hasty trip to the Philippines for my Lola's funeral. I'm itchy because of hives I don't know where I got (not sure if it's what I ate or something environmental). I look back at my trip and it exhausts me at how fast the whirlwind went.

I left home and took the BART on Wednesday bound for the airport with a stopover in the city to say goodbye to the wife. Somewhere between that stopover and the airport I lost my cellphone. DANG! What a way to start this sad trip. I call T-Mobile and let BART know that it was lost, I call the wife to text my dad contact information and board the plane. Lucky, the plane wasn't full and I was able to secure a full row by the window. I got a chance to get a good rest before we landed. 11 hours to Guam then another 3 hours to Manila. Talk about exhausting! We landed and I must say that I HATE NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport). Too much runaround. Too much BS. I managed to see my uncle and my cousin in the thick of the waiting crowds and as soon as we got our luggage and got through customs we were on our way. It was traffic, but it's always traffic and as soon as we made it to the white gates of the Estupin compound I made the arduous walk to the house where my Lola lay in state (the viewing was held at the house, barrio style).

As I walked past my aunts who had arrived the day before, tears starting flowing through their eyes. They knew all too well the connection I had with my Lola. I cried over her casket for at least five minutes, memories of this wonderful lady passing before my eyes. She looked good, beneath the glass. She looked peaceful. My aunts cried as my dad finally saw his mom. He was surprisingly strong through the whole thing. He's the oldest.

Things settled and as tears dried up, the family, now complete, got down to the business of making my grandmother's internment and funeral a beautiful and fitting one. Dad supervised the whole thing as my aunts played bookkeeper and soon all the final details were hammered out.

The first night and on succeeding nights leading up to the funeral, I watched over her with my cousins. Staying up into the morning was the least I could do for her. We talked and laughed as we stayed up, and as the sun peaked through the hills across Laguna de Bay and we passed the torch to whoever wanted to take over for us, my cousins and I would head to the "Baywalk" or "Sports Complex" as they called it. These were the names of the venues created by the town's mayor as a place for people to exersize. We would walk a few laps before heading into town for a -silog breakfast and then head home for bed. I could only manage a few hours of sleep as the arrangements weren't all too comfortable and I was missing the wife and the son terribly. I would call or I would text when I could, but mostly I would just wait.

The funeral was on Tuesday the 4th. We walked my Lola from the house to the church a few blocks away. As we passed by the ancestral home, I walked alongside my dad, my pillar of strength, and he finally broke and cried. In a way, I was glad he did and keeping it all in is never healthy. After the mass, my dad said his thank yous on behalf of the family, his brothers and sisters. I told the crowd how much I loved that woman. I thanked them on behalf of my cousins and my nieces and nephews.

Her plot rests upon a hill that faces the sunset. A few plots down my uncle rests. As we said our final goodbyes I am happy with the knowledge that she is finally at peace. I am happy I went back to pay my respects to this lady who helped create the man that I am today. I miss her a lot and I know one day we will see each other again. I know she is somewhere in heaven setting a place for me to get to when it's finally my turn.

The next day I went to the malls with my parents. It was honestly a bit of a drag. I was tired, my eyes were still sore from all the crying, I missed the two I'd had waiting here at home, but off I went and was able to score some good things for them. We got back home and had a little drinking session with my cousins and uncles. It was fun to hear laughter and stories again.

The following morning, I met with the wife's best friend and she and her mom (our Ninang from the wedding) took me to Sonya's Garden in Tagaytay. The food was great, the ambiance was amazing. I vow to take the wife there when we go back to Manila as a family. We talked quite a bit about things and found clarity in our discussion. I'm happy she's a friend. I was able to score some last minute treats for the wife driving back down the mountain. That night, since the family was all together, we had dinner at Max's restaurant. Kind of a pre-birthday celebration for my dad.

We left the next day bound for home, but we stopped by the graveyard to say goodbye to Nanay and I shed one last tear for her before we left. The plane ride home sucked! Imagine crushing your tailbone for 12 hours! I'm so glad to be home and with the wife and Jake again. I feel more complete. I wish I could have taken them with me, but even if they couldn't, I'm glad they had a chance to meet her before she passed. I'm glad she had a chance to meet them.

Thank you for the memories. Thank you for everything you did for me growing up. Thank you for the smiles, for tying my shoes, for keeping me from spankings, for understanding how a little boy liked to wear his pants, for teaching me to love music through your silly songs, for loving me unconditionally. I am truly grateful.