catching up series: sad reunion

Life is a backstabbing b*tch, a friend used to say. While I was on a high because of the new job opportunity, my mom's side of the family suddenly went through a dark time when my uncle got ill and eventually passed away. He is my mom's eldest brother, Uncle Nar.

I would have to admit that we are closer to my dad's side. We would regularly go out with my cousins' families or visit each other's houses. We would celebrate special occasions with them too. Meanwhile, with my mom's side, we would only get to see them when it's All Soul's day. And in the habit of linking old posts, here are some Undas reunions with the Abadilla clan at Sanctuario de Paz. It is where my lolo Macho was laid to rest. 

Undas 2011. 

Late Visit for 2012. 

Undas 2015. 

See? We can't even make it a regular thing as a clan. 

But of course we do visit lolo regularly even without the rest of the family. 

Grandparent's Day 2013. 

Random Visit 2014. 

It's raining links, as always! :)

Anyway, speaking of reunions, we were suddenly forced into one back in June 2016 when Uncle Nar passed away. If I'm not mistaken (which I think I'm not :P), it was Mithril's first time to see some of her cousins. At this point, I have lost count of Kuya Jong's youngsters. The last time time we were all together, that was Undas 2015, he had six kids already. Fast forward to today, he has eight na yata! Grabe no? I can't even begin to imagine the daily chaos. 

A crying Mithril and the Abadilla kids
Zai, Jonnel (back), Moimoi, Lawrence, Miyuki, Neya, PJ (back), JJ, Hael & Papao
kulang pa yan! :P 

MoiMoi, Hael and JJ

Moi and Neyang

Mithril and ate Miyuki

Going back to the passing of tito Nar, he was also laid to rest in Sanctuario de Paz, in the other cemetery plot that my mom bought. It was honestly a bit on an issue cause if you think about it, my parents invested for the family's security but because their family failed to prepare for tough times like this, we had to give it up for them. Not that we ever wanna use a cemetery plot di ba, but you get what I mean. But my father was understanding of the circumstances and we just had to invest again for when the inevitable happens. But Papa Jesus, please, sa far future pa ha? :)

Whew! Family issues no? But I guess, as much as we should be there to help and support one another, we should also know where to draw the line. I am actually very proud of my mom for always being there for her relatives but sometimes, I, along with my sisters, can't help but remind her to realize what is too much already. Because ideally, everyone should work hard enough to be able to sustain themselves and their immediately family. 

As for uncle Nar in heaven, I know he's happy with all the help that mom is extending to their family. But I'd like to believe too that he'd be happier when he finally sees his grown-up sons providing enough for the household that he left behind. One day, uncle Nar! Keep guiding them from above. :)

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catching up series: obligatory undas story

Happy hump day, folks! Just thought I'd make this day a productive one by (1) coming up with a blog post, (2) finally sending my resume to JobStreet and (3) doing the laundry. For the record, I know how to wash clothes, people. I've always been accused of knowing nothing about household chores but that's so untrue. Just thought I'd clear my name of that accusation. Haha!

So where are we in catching up? November, yeah? Finally we're getting closer to celebrating the New Year here. Hehe! I can't wait 'til I put this catching up thing to a close and finally talk about 2016. Anyway, let's talk about the past All Soul's day or undas as we say it in Filipino.

Coming from a huge family, we always have two trips to the cemetery. We visit Manila Memorial for our late relatives from the father side and Sanctuario de Paz for my dear lolo from the mother side. This year, we first visited Sanctuario. It wasn't really planned but it was good that our cousins were there when we arrived. It's been a while since we last visited lolo as a big family 'cause most of my cousins have their own families now. And speaking of having families of their own, kuya Jong, the eldest cousin, is driving us crazy with his growing number of kids. He already has six, again sixxxx, babies. Nakakaloka! To think their not well-off. If I only have the right to knock him some sense. But mom can't help but drop lines of sermon for kuya.

ABADILLA CLAN, REPRESENT!

five out of eight are kuya Jong's babies #whutt

Hael, Moymoy, Miyuki & Nea with tita Emy

Moymoy & Hael with tito Noel {my mom's brother}

kuya Jong's first two, Allen & PJ

'sup lo?

The week after that, we went to Manila Memorial Park. It was the first time also that we made it to the cemetery with the cousins plus their wifeys/hubbies and kids. I have to say that the past All Soul's day was a memorable one. It became a reunion of sorts for both family sides. And oh, if you were looking for Mithy, we didn't take her with us on purpose because she hasn't been baptized yet at that time. Ayaw syang isama ng nanay ko no matter what we say. Hehe! Avie, on the other hand, was sick then so ate Tin wasn't able to go too. It could have been a full cast play date.

Faye & Carin
charm runs in the blood, I must say :P

swear they kept on running

auntie Dang and our little warrior, Koi
he's fighting Neuroblastoma, f*ck cancer!

with Xana banana

 

frenemies, Faye & Pops

ate Caitlin

moment ko, okay lang? :P

 

We capped the night with Dinner at Max's. Of course the kids simply continued the riot there, especially Faye and Pops. We call them the frenemies 'cause they would always fight but then they didn't wanna separate. Hehe! Then there's Carin trying to fit in too. Kagulo! More of the cousins' chaos actually in the coming posts. I'll be blogging about Faye, Mithy and Avie's consecutive birthday celebrations so expect more baby cuteness this side of the blogosphere.

with kuya We

extended family ❤

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same old silly kids

So ze girls of the fambam visited lolo late last month at Sanctuario de Paz and if there's one thing I realized that day, it's this -- we're still same old silly kids lolo left seven years back. Seven yearsss, yet sometimes I still can't believe it's been that long. Perhaps 'cause nothing much has changed since, or nothing grand at least. Of course I've graduated already, worked for a couple of years, transferred from one crib to another, been to places and tried whatever; but now that I'm back to square one, I feel like I'm back to my 20-year-old self & that I have all the rights to be silly all over again. Pause muna with trying so hard to be mature as demanded by my then role. Ang saya kaya magloka-lokahaannnn! Mwahaha! And loka-lokahan was what we did exactly -- perpetual laughing, piggy back rides, hilarious make face-ing, and a serious case of posing posing. Hehehe! I'm pretty sure lolo understands, happy even, to witness his apos go cray-cray around him just like the old times. And because I'm having a hard time putting my thoughts into words, I'm leaving you with a ton of photos ahead. I edited them a little well for y'all! Bask in! :)

chillin' with lolo ❤

generation gap right thurr!
can't get lolie to smile :)

here's to choosing happiness -- always!

my girls ❤

never too old for piggy back rides

 

dumb & dumber ✌

How'd you like 'em?

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grampa and gramma's day ♥

Okay, here's another late post for you guys! I mean, with my blog title you must have guessed already. E kelan pa ba kasi ang grandparent's day? Dba nung September 8 pa? Hahaha!

Anyway, my gramma, mom, our youngest and I went to Sanctuario de Paz to visit our grampa - lolo Macho. ❤ It's been six years since he was taken from us but it still pains me that he can't be with us during special occasions like this. No offense to the souls of our other loved ones but it's him I miss the most. I can't even tell why exactly.

My lolo succumbed to bone tuberculosis. Few months before he left, we already know that he's in bad condition and that he can be taken away from us anytime soon. I even remember my sister buying him all sorts of stuff just to make him feel better. Saka dba, it's natural for the  family to spoil a member who's facing a difficult time - much more if the person has a fatal condition. That's where I feel I lacked. 

At that time, I was in my senior year. I was busy as hell so I rarely went home. I was leaving in a boarding house then, by the way. One night, I came home and everybody's not in the house except for my cousin. He asked me if already knew what happened to lolo. That instant I knew what happened.

I cried buckets that night especially everytime I look at him in his casket. I cried all the more during his interment because I felt that I could have done more for him when he was still living. After the funeral rites, my friends who went with us told me that they cried too when then saw me cry. Apparently, I wasn't the type to cry easily. Another friend even rejoiced when he saw me cry the first time but that's a different story.

This one is as cliché as it can be but.. SHOW THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THEM BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. Trust me on this. I learned my lesson the hard way so I'm doing a better job now towards lola taas. Funny how we call them, lolo Macho because he's been thin all his life and lola taas 'cause it's a slightly uphill road to their house, a short walk from ours. Forgive our logic. Hahaha!

Moving away from the sadness that this story is, below are the photos from our short cemetery stint. Yes, we don't look sad at all but I know for sure there's regret and heartache behind those smiles. Did I just start with the drama again? Haha! Sorry!

But really, we had fun taking photos beside lolo's pit. I'm sure he'd understand. Mom and Dana were the crazy people that they are then asking me to take photos of them while walking. Duuh! My gramma on the other hand was like.. "hay, sige na nga" or "wag na ako, matanda na ako". Hahaha! Generation gap right there!

three generations

we love yaah, gramma. :*

Before heading home, mom treated us to dinner. That's one in a blue moon, if I may add. Hahaha! Peace, mom! Dana and I wanted to stroll 'round the mall more but the oldies were tired already so..

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a visit to lolo ♥

Wheew! I'm currently a dead kid due to another Aero Kae Bo sesh and I just thought of making this resting time worthwhile. Sharing another family day out to visit my grandpa from my mom's side at Sanctuario de Paz. Remember we failed to visit him last All Soul's day?

I actually thought of putting 'meet my family' in the subject line because that's how I, unintentionally at first, created the photo collages. Totally ignoring the fact that no one might be interested, I'm serving the collages purpose still. 

so, meet my family

Mom and Dad. I call them mama and papi, respectively. I know moms can really be bungangera at times but my mom's case is a serious one. Hahaha! I'm running out of words just trying to emphasize how loud she can get. Pag nagising sya, gising na ang lahat ng tao sa bahay. She will check all of us from our rooms and will move around and talk without a care. It is that bad, believe me. What's best in her though is how strong she is. Sometimes I get scared of having my own family with the thought of needing to be as strong as her. 

Papi, on the other side, do not need words to gain authority and respect. Probably the reason why he was a barangay chairman for about 20 years. It amuses me how he does that. For others, he may always seem to be a tough guy - never resting his case to anyone {hindi nagpapatalo in other words} but for us, we've definitely seen his soft side. Probably softer than mom's. xP He's the best cook, he has repeating stories, he can sing and dance, he has a taste in fashion, he's tiny and he has nose as large as mine. Hahaha! I'll always be thankful I inherited things from him - good or bad.

best mom and dad, eveerrr

Mommy and Daddy. Also known as kuya Ga or Yags and ate Tin. Yags is our cousin. His mom and our dad are siblings. But if you'll get to witness a day in our lives, it's like ate Tin is our cousin. Yags can get shy sometimes while mommy is always in our house or should I say in our kitchen, eating with us and with baby. She loves to cook too at kapag kinareer nya ang pagluluto, we all end up eating in their house naman. On the other hand, Yags is the techie one. Computer, electronics, mobile, lights, sounds.. you name it, he got it. Feeling MacGyver kasi. :P Btw, they are the parents of the cutsie patootsie, Faye.

second set of mom and dad

Me. The fairest of them all! Hahaha! I am the eldest of four siblings. Growing up, I've always been known as the OC one. My room can never be a mess, the clothes in my closet are arranged by color, no one can touch my things, no one can lie in my bed, I should always be on top of things. Yes, that cranky. I'd like to believe I have mellowed in time but I'm still being told of being too perfectionist at times. And because I got stressed of a lot of things last year, I'll try to be more carefree this time. I can't promise but I'll try.

moi ♥

Anit and Gigi. Odd nicknames I know but life is unfair like that sometimes. Hahaha! Joyce Anne or fondly called as Anit is my, well, obviously, sister. We were born July 17 and 18, respectively, only a year apart. As kids, she's the 'mataba and maputi' while I am the 'payat and maitim'. To make it worse, she's the 'mabait' and I am the 'masungit'. Everyone likes her better but I really can't remember feeling bad about it. After all, it's how I want it. I've always been the anti-social hermit. Until now, we're total opposites. She's happy-go-lucky while I plan like things like crazy. Thankfully, we're over with our walang-pansinan-for-years syndrome. Reminds me so much of Maxx and Sab. Hahaha! Feeler.

John Daren or Gigi is the only thorn among the roses. I am so glad he didn't turn to be a rose just like us. Hahaha! Seriously though, he never showed a sign. He has the most normal childhood. Anit and I never had the chance to play with our neighbors but Gigi's case is the total opposite. Andaming barkada, laging nasa labas kaya maitim. Hehe, peace brotha! He's the spoiled one hence he matured a little late. But now, he's growing to be the man he should be. A little more time and I can see him leaving his computer games.

chubby wobbly sibs

Dana and Faye. The maaartes, like, supeeerr, yah knooow! Haha! Dana is like me and Anit rolled into one. She looks like me but she has talents like Anit's. She has stuff like mine but her room is a mess like Anit's. She's heavyhearted and carefree at the same time. Perfect example of crazy!! Being the bunso, she gets bullied a lot at home. Too bad she's pikon and she always ends up being mad at us. She's the family's official side kick too perhaps because she has vast interest with things. I personally love tagging her along because she loves shopping and fashion as much as I do. She's the sweetest and most thoughtful too. 

And Faye? The dalagita trapped in a three-year-old body. I swear her actions and words do not reflect she's just three. She's so smart and witty. Just last night, she said 'maanghang' referring to the ice cream. Papito asked, 'may maanghang ba na ice cream?' Then she said, 'eto', pointing to her ice cream. She's talented too. She can carry a tune at such a young age. She has gone to an academic school  and ballet school. Only that, she gets in trouble most of time. As much as she's a darling most of the time, it's freaking scary when she gets mad. She screams like there's no tomorrow and just like her papito, she never rests her case. There's no way she'd give up on the things she wants. Looks trouble to her mom and dad. Uh-oh.

She calls mama - mamita and papi - papito, by the way. Too cute not to mention.

a love-hate relationship

Granny, Allen and PJ, Ate Gina and Mary. More of our extended family? Let's begin with my grandma. Mom's mom. Mom frequently says, "moher din yang lola nyo, eh" when granny's being a biatch. Did I just use that word for my grandma? Hahaha! I mean no evil though. My point is that, being a biatch runs in the blood. Hehe. We are a family of maldita and sutil and there's just no denying that! Isn't that ironic? We are a tight-knit family, so bound with love, yet all beastly individuals. 

Allen and PJ. Sons of my cousin from my mother side. Apo ni lola, in other words. We used to visit lolo with the entire Abadilla clan but this time my mom chose to skip the stressful task of making everyone's schedule meet. Not to mention, my two cousins are pregnant and another just gave birth. More Allen and PJ to come. 

Lastly Ate Gina and Mary. Ate Gina is Faye's sitter while Mary is Ate Gina's daughter. Our extended family got a little more extended. Don't you just love that? I do. ♥ :)

more extensions.. why not?

Up next, my despedida brought about by quitting my Accenture and Eastwood life. Isn't my life exciting? Haha! Meanwhile, allow me to continue being a dead kid. 

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