Of Small Families and Christmas Eve

I come from a small tight-knit family, and I like it that way. I'm an only-child and have only two cousins. My mom only has one brother as well, so it's gonna be a really small family. Admittedly, I'm closer to the mother's side of the family; well, most of my relatives from my father's side are abroad now anyway.

This is my christmas eve. We spend the night eating and then opening presents, nothing fancy. To a close family like ours, christmas is just like your average sunday, with gifts of course. A benefit of having a small family is always seeing each other, so that's a good thing. More on that later.

Let me introduce you to a few of my family members.

This is my dad. He has a prune on his face. Just kidding, it's a mole. I owe a lot to him. He's been slaving his butt off working in the casino for the past 15 years or so to provide me good education.  He grew up in a big family and he didn't always got what he wanted. He lived on hand-me-downs from his older siblings. Now, he's giving me what he never had when he was a kid. Thank you for everything. I love you dad.

This is my mom with her brother.

My mom spoils me a lot, being the "unico hijo". I don't mind being spoiled, but she needs to learn to spoil herself sometimes too. She deserves it. My mom is a picture of success to me; she graduated college, starting work as a fastfood manager, now she's an executive in one of our country's top banks. She inspires me to work hard for my future, as she did. I admit I'm glorifying her a bit too much, but hey, I'm proud to be called a "mama's boy".

My ninong is the cool uncle. He works hard and plays hard. He taught me how to drink. See? In Filipino culture, he's the "taga-binyag". A wacky scatterbrained character, he works his way through life with his impeccable wit and style. Even though he's a clumsy guy, he's hella smart too. He's living proof that funny people are smart.

Here's my lolo. He's the last of my grandparents. He's 77 and still drives a sweet ride, he's a "groovy lolo". I love him. I lived with him and my lola for two years when i was a kid, because my nursery was just near their house. This brought me really close to them. Now, I take care of him by visiting him at home ever so often. I dread the day that he'd pass away. *knock on wood*

These are my cousins along with their mom. They're kids, I'm 20 years old. Notice the very slight age gap.

Christmas eve for us is a very standard affair.

There's presents...

and of course, food over conversation.

One thing special about christmas eve with the family though is tradition. We have those little quirks every family has for christmas. We have a christmas centerpiece, a Child Jesus in a basket.

He has been the centerpiece of our christmas arrangements for 15 years now. I remember my lola telling me that I used to put a blanket on him because I said that he might feel cold. He lies amongst the gifts, also symbolic of our gifts as offerings to the Child. He also serves as a reminder why were celebrating the occasion.

More than the Child Jesus centerpiece, something is closer to my heart as a christmas tradition. Every year, without fail, we take a family picture by the stairs in my great-grandmother's house, where we always spend christmas eve. This makes me feel that sense of true "family-ness". This is my family. We are small but tight-knit. We don't have lavish family gatherings for christmas with catered food, bright lights and waiters serving champagne, we have ourselves. Our small family. A small family filled with love and affection. Love and affection that is shared by ten people. My mom, my dad, my lolo, my ninong, my tita, my two cousins, and my two grand-aunts.

So, what makes my christmas eve stand out from every other christmas eve here in the Philippines? The answer is, it doesn't. It's a typical Filipino celebration, but what makes it special is that I spend it with the people I love most, with the people from my small, tight-knit family.

Happy Holidays. :)

-Jiggy