Let’s Drink To That

Another belated post. LoL. I’ve been meaning to post about my musings as the year got underway but was just too damn lazy to do so.

First of all, I was feeling melancholic at the start of the year. This was mainly due to the reason of me not making it to the sendoff of my brother Ray. He had been arranging his work papers to Dubai during the 2nd half of last year and before the year was over, he got word that he’d be leaving early in 2009. He will be there for a 2-year work contract. When he got word that his final travel date would be January 7, he immediately texted me asking me when I’d be home. My base off from work would not be until the 10th so I asked him to delay his departure so that we’d still see each other before he leaves. There was no way I could escape from my work schedule and I was in Kidapawan that time.

Emotionally, I didn’t know how to describe how it felt thinking that he’d be leaving soon. Growing up separated by just 2 years (I am older, but I could easily pass off as younger than him..LoL), there was the usual sibling rivalry. It even is funny now that I think of the memories. My brother and I used to sleep in 1 bed together when we were still little. He was malikot when he slept, often kicking and turning about throughout the night, and I’d be awakened by this trait of his. At times, I’d punch him when this happened. Naturally, he would be at the losing end since I was awake, while he wasn’t..LoL. We weren’t that close growing up as I think I sort of looked at him as competition. Even in sports, we both were very competitive. I was even closer to my friends and classmates than I was with him. Oftentimes, we couldn’t converse without one eventually raising his voice. This did not get by without our parents noticing and numerous times, they even brought this to our attention. Blood was thicker than water, they told me.

As far as I remember, the turning point came when we were separated from each other for a long time, when he decided to work in Manila as a callcenter agent. When he came back after that, things were different. I couldn’t quite describe how, but it was just that. We were more gentle with each other. Another thing that brought us closer to each other was the game of badminton. We became partners and on a number of occasions, we went out of town to on road trips to join badminton tournaments. Yes, the usual conflicts between us were still there, but somehow, we were already communicating and it was easier to talk things over, unlike our situation before. When I was assigned in Bacolod, he’d text me whatever was happening back home, sometimes also to blow off some steam. I guess our bonding developed at that point. It came at a later part in our lives, but I think what was important was it did.

..1st runner up during our first tournament..

The whole family went to Cebu to send him off at Mactan International Airport last January 7..while I had to be contented with being passed around and talking to everybody on the mobile phone while they were at the pre-departure area. My brother is now an OFW.

Blood indeed is thicker than water.

Ingat always dinha brod!

Just came from the airport this afternoon after picking up the parents from their flight from Manila. They just came from the US embassy for their appearance for their visa application. Thank God that they were granted a visa for their trip come June 21. Actually, as soon as they got word on the status of their application, they immediately sent a text message yesterday so I knew of the news fast.

They will be heading there for an international convention of their church outreach group for married couples, the Worldwide Marriage Encounter, i dunno if you heard of that group.

They have been quite active in that apostolate of theirs. Come to think of it, their involvement in that group had quite an impact on our family life.

Let me just explain how. You see, before their involvement on that organization, there used to be 4 of us, composed of 3 boys, and then the only girl. For a while there, they decided that it would be a period for them as 4 children would be enough. The gaps in years of the 4 children was 2 years for the first 3 children, and then 3 years for the only girl. After their involvement (our sister was already 5 years old by then), we had brother number five, and just 11 months after that, we had our bunso (our youngest). LoL. I often hear them jokingly say that the last 2 were the result of overflowing love.

Anyway, we have had quite a journey with our family.

If you ask me, I would always tell you, “The more the merrier.”

And oh, regarding that US trip, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the pasalubong.