22 Days ’til Pasko.
Today I am…
… thankful for the long undisturbed sleep after a full night of work.
… wishful that there is still a Mr. Fantastic and Silver Surfer toy available when we go the store.
(I didn’t know your mom and sis had December bdays too, Anthony.)
A birthday would come up and I’d be beating myself months, weeks, and even up to until days before. As early as grade school, when my own birthday came up, I would bring food for all my classmates. When Christmas came I’d make them all little Christmas cards. One time I remember, in Grade 6, I embroidered their nicknames (all forty of them) on little 2inX3in basketweave glued to cardboards and with clear wrapping. That’s when I learned that embroidery can actually hurt your fingers when doing it nonstop day after day after day. High school came and I tried to keep my little tradition alive. I would handmade bookmarks for my classmates. As I entered sophomore year I started to limit gift-giving to my favorite people.
***(sidetracked blabber:) At that time my closest friends were 3 girls… Marjorie, Marie Joy and Lirio. After that year those three stayed together and joined this big girl barkada (they called themselves the Sweet Chums… how cookier can you get??) and I was back to my usual amiable self minglin’ with all sorts of people. Ahhh, I remember how Marie Joy was obsessed with Macaulay Culkin! I thought it was pedophelia in the most innocent sense of the word. He just did Home Alone then for Chris’sake! Heheh. My own obsession then was Edward Furlong. T2 came out that time and I bought books (books! not magazines! =P) about him. Edward and I share the same birthday, only his was a year early. I figured then, how can it be more fateful than that? But well, he started to go out with Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster of my childhood memories). She was quite pretty as a teener that time. When I saw her guest at F.R.I.E.N.D.S some years ago I didn’t think she looked as good as she did as a kid. After high school it turned out that it was Cleotilde, Heroliza and Marla that I’d stick with. 3 of us live in the same street until very recently when Marla got married, and Herol often changed houses (they rented) but we would get together at times.***
At the onset of college I felt compelled to make new friends (of course) and every Christmas, Valentine and Birthday that came I would try to give a note, a card, or at least a little somethin for that person. I’d call them on their birthday, and on xmas. At the start I would call everyone I knew. Time passed and it filtered to just the people I grew to be fond of.
A sore look at things: Sometimes I think, giving gifts on occasions are too overrated. Give a gift to keep a friend? That shouldn’t be how it should go. Does it work anyway? A brighter side to it: It looks so nice to see how a face brights up when a gift you give is unexpected, and very welcome. It feels wonderful not just to hear them say “Thank you” but really see them mean it. Occasions are often highlighted by the gifts you receive. After all, after all the food is gone and the party is over, aside from the fond memories… it’d be the gifts that remain right?
The last thing I gave out for my friends in college were these little blue and yellow Christian note cards with Bible verses. It had a tiny white dove drawn against a blue bkground on one side. Glenn showed me his a couple of years ago. I rarely see my friends now. Not unless you chide them on to join a night out for dinner or drinks. Is it my own fault? Did I not do enough? Did I not give enough? hmm. I can count with my one finger the only person who comes over without being asked. Sigh. Christmas is almost here. There are a bunch of unsent Christmas cards over the years, Aj can attest to that. Noemi, Sherwin, Ella, Rheena, Anthony and the others never seen them. Anth
ony’s gradpic we promised to send him years ago is still in my drawer. Is this holiday gonna pass the same way it had over the years? It must be my own fault.
If I’m in some good mood I can really overdo it.
If there’s some good money too.
***(Last sidetracked blabber) There were times in a group that a person would go around passing out his/her gifts to his/her friends, and it would look like… branding and marking territory. Of course, I didn’t mind when I got a gift (hehe). But it looked sorta weird to let other people see you give a gift for someone. Para bang… “eto o, para sa kanya, ikaw di ko bibigyan kasi di kita friend.” Although what should I care what others wanna do? Nothing of course. Another case is how you weigh what one friend gave you from another? “Wow naman! Ang mahal nito ah!” or “Ay, sampalok? Di bale, it’s da thought that counts!” Is it really just the thought that counts? That statement is like… “hey your gift sucks but I appreciate that you remembered.”***
What the hell… I like to receive gifts. Even the silliest little thing is fun to get. Teaching in high school 3 years ago, I got a lot of gifts from my students. Even after I left that school to teach in the University some would still come by the house to drop off little stuff. It’s nice to be in the gift list of people. Tells you that you’re appreciated.
Guess that’s what it’s for.
Resolution: There must be a way to let people know they are remembered fondly, and appreciated. A card? A letter? Ahh yes. That is the most classic and personal way to get to a person. Some would say it is enough to get anything long as you get something. *nod* And that must be the gyst of it all—-
This Christmas, give a gift, send a card, write a letter, drop a post, click an email or dedicate a blog to each person you care about. Let your presence be felt. A little tickle wouldn’t hurt.