Rain, Rain Go Away

This rain never stops.  It’s been raining since last night. I woke up around 2 am since I could not sleep because of it. That kind  which is intermittent and sporadic, strong one minute then it stops then rains again. The new low pressure area is stationary so it is bringing in more monsoon rains in several provinces of Luzon including Metro Manila.  It’s one thing I dread – flooding. I still can’t forget those days when typhoon Ondoy flooded Metro Manila and we had to renovate.

It is okay if it rains as long as it does not bring flash flood and does not destroy properties in the process. Josef came back after a few minutes. He attempted to go to work early this morning but “no can do”.

This is just the ninth weather disturbance in our country. We are usually visited by around twenty typhoons on the average every year.

 

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It’s All In The Family

We are a big clan.

My  paternal grandfather had fifteen kids in all and dad was second to the oldest  among Tatay’s  kids (we called our  paternal grandfather Tatay and all the rest of his other siblings except my lone aunt who we called Nanang). The first seven were during the first marriage and the second eight kids with Tatay’s second wife. I never knew my paternal grandmother. She died giving birth to their youngest, their seventh child who grew up with speech defect  and cannot speak well.  One of them told me that I look like her, speak like her and even got her mannerism. Maybe that was why I was so close  to them when they were alive. Let’s just say I was one of their favorite nieces.  They are all gone now except the youngest who is now around eighty years old.

When Tatay married again, they had eight kids and the youngest is now as old as I am. I remember Dad telling me that his only sister used to take care of her half-siblings. My two aunts and an uncle live in Spain with their families and the youngest  is married to a Japanese and has lived in Japan for more than three decades now.

I have close to about fifty first cousins  and  so many nephews and nieces with their own families now.  Imagine having so many grandchildren with cousins. I  haven’t met almost half of them except seeing them in pictures. Last February 2011, my aunts and uncles organized a family reunion and it was an amazing attendance with around a hundred family members  including their wives and husbands.  I was not able to attend though because of health problems.

When my aunts  and I meet, we usually talk about our family tree.  We remember those days when Tatay was still alive and my brothers and I would visit them in their home in another barangay in the province.  We remember those days when Tatay was so active in Church. He was a choir member and  a Legion of Mary member too. And I remember those days when we would visit their farm and before we go home, our bags are laden with fresh veggies and some fruits.

Though we are far from each other, we get by through Facebook messenger and occasional texts and calls.  We are connected. We may not often see each  other but the bond is there.

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