Good times and bad times

Christmas for me was all about those experiences deeply anchored when I was a kid: cold weather, crisp mornings, evergreens, Advent prayers, Christmas wrappers, carols, Nat King Cole, hot chocolate and bibingka/pandesal, the Belen, the era before that bedeviled song "Boom-Tarat" was concocted...

It seems that all I knew about Christmas was about those things that made if FEEL like the real thing. It's not bad. I'm not saying that. I loved waking up to Christmas carols. I loved giving candy to the carollers. I love staying up late and opening presents.

But, as with everything, time changed it all.

Like, hello global warming; hello spindly, low-quality Christmas decor; hello fake hot chocolate and fake floury bibingka; and hello to rude carollers who raise hell with screaming anthems of BOOM TARAT-TARAAAAT!

I realize, with everything slipping away, what makes me happy most isn't the number of gifts I receive; being with my family is what makes it really special.

I'm sixteen, and somehow, not that crazy anymore about the aguinaldo.