For every Christmas season, in the almost 2 decades I spent away from the Philippines, this Josi Mari Chan song brings back memories of home… 🎶 girls and boys selling lanterns on the streets…🎶
Maybe because these scenes are unique to the Philippines, in the backdrop of kids caroling on every doorstep each and every night, another quite unique Philippine tradition. A few times during the COVID outbreak, my FilAm group tried to share this tradition by caroling around our neighborhood. It was a lot of fun!
This year’s Christmas for me is more memorable in terms of celebrating the season with fellow kababayans. The church community in All Saint’s Catholic Community in Mesa AZ has a 'Christmas Around the World' event where all Filipinos can share the traditional food and kakanin that one Sunday evening and mingle with the Pinoys in the community. San Diego Parish hold Simbang Gabi masses at 6:30pm and a get-together where Pinoy kakanin is shared follows the mass one Saturday evening for a casual Filipino style gathering.
As our family grows on this side of the world, as mine certainly did when my son got married in October this year, our memories of home shift to a different meaning. ‘Home’ is where our heart is, and we try to make the best of the season wherever we may be.
But there is no place like ‘home’. So while it isn’t always possible to travel and be ‘home’ for Christmas, let’s strive to keep Christmas at ‘home’ in our hearts…wherever life takes us.